How Revealing Should a System Be?

several years ago i bought a jvc boombox for the bedroom on sale (am/fm/cd/cassette). i would play hendrix, led zeppelin, madonna, boston, as well as jazz and classical from time to time.
on rock recordings the stereo imaging was incredible, and
the "heavy rock" sound was really satisfying and fairly clearly rendered. out in the "living room" where my "audio system" resides, i just don't have time to listen to crosby stills and nash's crappy mixing/mastering as much as i love the music, when i can be listening to mozart or bach. there are many killer recordings of jazz (i have a t.monk live done with a 3 ch.analog tape machine on verve) that rivals anything i've ever heard (well, almost). i've tried metallica (the "black" alblum) for fun just to see what my
"good stuff" thinks of it. it's okay, but ponderous, and i get a migraine after about 10 minutes. so maybe i can't put everything on the big system and enjoy it 100%, but that still leaves about 75% of my music collection that i can listen to. plus my tastes have changed- yes and pat benetar are giving way to allison krause and dianne krall (and metamucil).

Everyone who has responded "gets it" which is very encouraging indeed.I wish all of you many years of musical joy and happiness.I suppose in a perfect world you would'nt even care after purchasing your equipment what it was or wasnt doing properly...it would simply dissapear.Like life itself all that would be left would be the illusion of real.

Brucegel,
Thank you for distinguishing that musician (drummer) in me that wants to hear it all, from the sustain of guitar strings to the creaking of the piano bench. My SET-based system answers to that desire.
And Simon, thank you for reminding met that each of us not only hears differently, but that each of us also looks to hear different things.
Great thread, everyone.

i think plato hit the nail on the head. there has to be a balance between high relsolution and musicality.

that is where the real challenge is- is finding that synergistic combination.

mike

Different audiophiles have had different experiences with discrimination/detail rendering. I believe most go through a phase where they have achieved lots of detail by changing, cables, sources etc.. only to have it sound clinical or harsh, but all the details are there. This leads many audiophiles to believe that its not such a good thing to reveal all of the details, when in fact, it is. As a result, many of them buy DAC's or tubed equipment that tends to roll-off or compress the high-frequencies in order to eliminate this harshness that they believe comes with the detail.

The real solution is to eliminate the harshness from their front-ends without sacrificing the detail, dynamics or extension. There are two ways to do this: 1) buy EMM or other very expensive gear 2) mod your gear