New Santana Album "Africa Speaks"

Orpheus10, it would be a shame, to not have you here. Your contributions have always been appreciated by me, even if I disagreed at times. On another thread, I put forth a question to the other posters. It went like this. " Given an opportunity to listen to a typical, junior high school jazz ensemble, in Carnegie Hall, with you being in the 1st 10 rows, OR, Miles Davis, with some of his quartet members, in an acoustic space, no better than an airport bathroom, which would you prefer ? ". I do not recall if anyone responded to me, but, without being disrespectful to the junior high band, I selected the MD quartet, not caring where they performed. Some of us, use the music, to listen to our equipment, and some of us, use the equipment, to better listen to the music. Most of my favorite music is compressed, to various degrees, such as Africa Speaks, ( actually, compared to being at a live, unamplified musical performance, once it hits the microphone, it is over ). I understand this, and feel, my system, allows me to hear more of the " music ", and I can pay less attention to the recording quality. All recordings, do not sound like a Chesky production ( it would be nice if they did ), but I know, many audiophiles, who ONLY listen to recordings, such as these. I can, and do, appreciate a recording, that is stellar in it’s recording production, but I will continue to listen to all of my recorded music, because it is all about the music. One last point. Many folks posting on this  thread, feel their systems are the wonders of the audio community, but little do they know, the speakers they use, exhibit compression. Please, stick around, and see, all of the posters, who respond to my post here. Enjoy ! MrD.

@orpheus10 

Hey I totally get where you are coming from, many of the responses left me cold as well. I agree with you 100% about Abraxas - one of the all time greatest rock albums.

I also agree with you about Africa Speaks - sounds good to me,  Carlos has the fire back on that one. It’s quite the achievement and testimony to Mr. Carlos Santana to be making music all these years. 
Enjoy the music ! Take care of yourself. 

I just realized, that my post I spoke about, being on another thread, was actually, on this one.....duh

This will be my last and final post on "Audiogon"; some will be happy, some will be sad, but I'm moving on.

What in the world?
Why would be my question.
I know the posting on Audiogon has taken a turn for the worse at times of late but no need to leave.
Take the high road and rise above the cattle.

Sorry to see you go if that is your final choice and one that I respect.

Good luck!

Well, I listened to Africa Speaks, again, in it's entirety, and what is amazing to me, unlike many here, I enjoyed the music, the playing, the melodies, the harmonies, the song structures, the interplay between the musicians, the creativity of what Carlos has put together, 50 years after his beginnings. My system allows musical flow, rhythm, agility, details, tone, coherence, and dynamics, to show through. My system disappears, with this, and many. Yes, it is a studio album, but all I can say, for those of you who do not give this masterpiece another go, is missing out on another Santana marvel. To not listen to music, because of some audiophile ignorance, is unfortunate. Enjoy ! MrD.