How do you judge your system's neutrality?



Here’s an answer I’ve been kicking around: Your system is becoming more neutral whenever you change a system element (component, cable, room treatment, etc.) and you get the following results:

(1) Individual pieces of music sound more unique.
(2) Your music collection sounds more diverse.

This theory occurred to me one day when I changed amps and noticed that the timbres of instruments were suddenly more distinct from one another. With the old amp, all instruments seemed to have a common harmonic element (the signature of the amp?!). With the new amp, individual instrument timbres sounded more unique and the range of instrument timbres sounded more diverse. I went on to notice that whole songs (and even whole albums) sounded more unique, and that my music collection, taken as a whole, sounded more diverse.

That led me to the following idea: If, after changing a system element, (1) individual pieces of music sound more unique, and (2) your music collection sounds more diverse, then your system is contributing less of its own signature to the music. And less signature means more neutral.

Thoughts?

P.S. This is only a way of judging the relative neutrality of a system. Judging the absolute neutrality of a system is a philosophical question for another day.

P.P.S. I don’t believe a system’s signature can be reduced to zero. But it doesn’t follow from that that differences in neutrality do not exist.

P.P.P.S. I’m not suggesting that neutrality is the most important goal in building an audio system, but in my experience, the changes that have resulted in greater neutrality (using the standard above) have also been the changes that resulted in more musical enjoyment.
bryoncunningham
Mrtennis, I have given up that quest, nor will I trust most who might tell me there is such a speaker.
Mrtennis, I have given up that quest, nor will I trust most who might tell me there is such a speaker.

Norm, don't tell me you purchased a speaker just because it sounds good and you enjoy it?

What in the world is this site coming to...
05-12-11: Mrtennis
since all components are imperfect, a thorough audition will reveal some flaw or consistent sonic signature.

if there exists a component which is "virtually" neutral, i.e., does not reveal any flaws, i would like to know about it.

Not a single person on this thread, which is now up to 353 posts, has suggested that there is any such thing as a perfectly neutral component. You should know that as well as anyone, Mrtennis, since you have been one of this thread's regular participants.

You are attacking a straw man.

For those who have not read this thread, a glance at the OP would reveal my view on the subject...

P.P.S. I don’t believe a system’s signature can be reduced to zero.

That view was discussed at length in MANY subsequent posts.

And no one is suggesting that people should buy speakers on the basis of neutrality or measurements. A glance at the OP would clear that up as well...

P.P.P.S. I’m not suggesting that neutrality is the most important goal in building an audio system...

Or my post from yesterday...

People should choose components according to their own preferences, not someone else's.

That is another straw man.

Bryon
You can record the sound over the air with a two channel pro recorded like Nagra and then replay the rerording in your system. Then compare to the original recording. This should help reveal any colorations and distortions if the recording is good and high quality. I think I read this in a magazine once, but never tried it. A person used this to proove to some teenage kids that his high end system was indeed superior to thier cheap stereo and had every bit as much bass. Thier cheap stereo was just distored and skewed towards lots of bass. He recorded the kids stero and then played back the recording on his system. The kids were astonished at how much it then sounded like there system.