I have a carefully assembled system but also one that due to its cost (around $9k) I wouldn't presume to be capable of the realism of super-expensive systems. Last weekend, I was listening to an opera and at one point a character unexpectedly knocks on a door - for a split-second I thought someone was knocking on my front door before I realized it was the recording. That was surprising and pleasing to me - it indicated I was getting close enough to neutrality to realistically evoke a far-away sound.
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.
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04-19-12: BryoncunninghamBrings to mind the most famous canine audiophile, Nipper listening to "His Master's Voice". Best, -- Al |
"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." I agree with the principle that there is a positive relationship between diverse sound and neutrality. There is a point at which though I think practically our ability to detect this becomes questionable. Its in that twilight zone we often discuss where science and measurements cannot detect and confirm what we hear. ANd beyond that is the point where we as humans and our ears fail. For example, we cannot hear radio frequencies nor can we see infrared light. But science says they exist. The question then becomes: when does it matter to which the easy answer is: it depends. |
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