Why I like my home system better than live music

Live music runs the gamut from spot on to very poor.

Lots of factors affect how a live event sounds, including venue, how the production is set up/configured and where you sit in it among others.

Even within a single excellent venue as a whole, I've heard the full range from excellent to poor with different performances and listening from different locations.

The thing with your system is you can control everything except how the source material is recorded. I agree that as a whole, a good home system can be and often is more consistent and rewarding. There are fewer variables out of your control in play.

Having said that, I do not know if the best live events can be reproduced as well on a home system. A good system, can come pretty close though with a good recording.

Drac,

Curious what live venues have you heard that sound bad and what kinds of music there?

Rock concerts are the most problematic in general.

Still, I have heard several in recent years by major acts that were quite excellent in regards to sound quality:

Yes (with Symphony Orchestra) at Wolftrap in Vienna, Va
Porcupine Tree at Rams Head Live
The Musical Box also at Rams Head Live
Savoy Brown at Rams Head Tavern (Annapolis)
The Church at rams Head Tavern (twice in recent years)

Forgot to mention that even paul McCartney concert last year at FedEx Field, DC (football stadium) surprisingly had very good sound, however, I was sitting RIGHT in the sweet spot at ground level between the two speaker columns. That was an unbelievable ticket score and most SWEET!

BTW, Recorded music I have heard during games at M&T bank Stadium (ravens) is darn good sounding. Modern NFL football stadiums seem to have some of the very best large scale SOTA sound systems installed!

"I recall reading somewhere that this was one of the (many) factors that dissuaded The Beatles from performing their later material live. There are many recordings that I love which need to be pretty thouroughly reinterpreted for live performance."

That was true at the time. With modern technology however, not so much the case.

I've heard various Beatles cover acts that are able to deliver performances of later Beatles works these days that are designed specifically to sound as much as possible like what is on the records. It is still of course not EXACTLY the same, but as close as you can in a live performance delivered in real time.

The ops premise is "liking" your home system better.

You don't have to think your home system sounds as good as or better than live to like it better than live. People like what they like for whatever reason they like it. Nothing else really matters.

Also live music can be recorded and listened to tbut you are listening to a reproduction, not the real thing.

Studio music can only be listened to on a system. Live versions can simulate but again are artistically interpreted reproductions.

" I've only heard two speakers *ever* that got cymbals just right,"

Which two?

Thanks!

IRv,

How do you know not getting the cymbals right was the speakers fault?

Is it possible it could have been the rest of the system ie the amp, source or other component (even ICs) or at least that these factors contributed?

I do not hear many live performances these days that I would prefer to listen to in terms of sound quality alone over what my gear is capable of these days.

A home system is still no substitute for the full sensual impact of a great live performance though.

Maybe well done large scale classical or similar types of live music in a larger quality venue perhaps.

I think my limits at home are mostly that of scale, where room size is the bottleneck, not quality these days. Not to say it is perfect but good enough to fit the bill very well most of the time.

I think it helps to think of your home/room as your own personal venue and play to its strengths rather than fighting it's weaknesses.

All venues sound different. The same venue sounds different even depending on where you sit.

Thinking this way, my goal is to make my room/venue the best it can be regardless of the music playing.

I am somewhat uniquely fortunate perhaps in that I am able to run speakers in 6 different rooms off my gear so I have 6 different and distinct venues to mix things up with and chose from.