Quote:
Originally Posted by Desertway /img/forum/go_quote.gif
My hubby and I have had this discussion. He is a composer, with a Master's degree in music. Taught music for several decades. He had always had a "good enough" system. He believes that listening to the "quality of the sound" can easily detract from listening to the "substance of the music". At the same time, with a quality system, more of the music can shine through.
I suppose it is different for each individual, to what extent we are distracted in our listening by our concern for the quality of our gear.
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Thats an interesting point.
I personally have always felt that there are two types of hifi in this world. I've seen them referred to in England as "round earth" and "flat earth" hifi. God only knows where they got these descriptions from, but i digress
So called "Round Earth" hifi tends to major in things like detail, soundstage and that sort of thing and is often said to be to the detriment of the music itself. I know what they mean, I've often heard hifi that sounds ultra detailed and superficially impressive, but often just winds up sounding like a collection of sounds rather than a cohesive tune. They often lose the "groove" in the process. Then we get the "Flat earth" hifi which tends to major on the actual musical message, this stuff is often said to be toe tapping. In comparison to flat earth, the soundstage and detail levels sometimes (but not always) is not quite up there with the best, but you tend to forget that because its just so damn enjoyable.
I find its actually a very difficult thing for a system to get right. I've spent years and hundreds of pounds trying to assemble a system that does the important hifi stuff but also retains the "groove". I think I've got there now. Its not even about price, more about smart choices and assembling a system that is greater than the some of its parts.
I dare say there might be some here who are wondering What I am going on about, because on the face of it, hifi is designed to play music, but you either get it or you dont.
Bizarrely, I often find that cheap components often get the basic "groove" right more often than some of the more expensive gear which is quite often why many are perfectly content without the higher end stuff. Witness for example, the love of classic grooving headphones such as the Koss KSC-35/75/Porta-Pro, low end Grados, Beyers DT531. These headphones all manage to deliver surprising bang for your buck but important deliver the musical message clearly.
I just feel sometimes that the music itself can be lost in the quest for "soundstages" and "detail".
