GoodSoundClub - Romy the Cat's Audio Site

In the Forum: Audio Discussions
In the Thread: The Classical Music Café syndrome...

Post Subject: "Those kind of people" are actually listening to musicPosted by Joe Roberts on: 5/31/2009

Cat...your ability to look at a picture and diagnoseminutae of sound and even the character of the system owner is impressive.

As you know from previous discussions, I am a fan of direct experience as a discovery procedure over intellectual manipulation of abstract, decontextualized factlets. This comes out of the nature of musical experience, which is not an abstract thing but a unique physical event which we participate in.

If that is considered an anti-intellectual posture around here, I can live with that...but how can anyone know (or even pretend to yourself to know) how all systems sound without listening to them?

Equations, laws, and past experience haven't helped me out much in prejudging systems. I am often surprised. Thank god.

This stock in abstract critique is fantasy land. The scary part is that the fantasy is that pretty much everything sucks, except one or two approved items or approaches.

Hey, I'd rather be an upbeat cheerleader, especially when I like things, than a twisted evil naysayer trashing everything that comes along without even listening! But that's just me...

My heartfelt response to listening to Mr. Hwang's Camerata cafe setup was precisely, "Freakin great." It would be abnormal to switch into audio analysis mode and maybe even emotionally retarded because this had nothing to do with home audiophile setups. This was a public sound system in a huge room-- a beautiful, peaceful large music listening space. Beethoven was playing. The sound was huge, vivid, and, well, sounded freaking great. Very compelling, and very very different from a domestic hifi system. It was just right. This was a postive accomplishment to set this thing up and Camerata is worth the visit for sound and pleasant atmosphere.

Your "nudge, wink" you know "THOSE KIND" of people line above can be read only as a stupid, dismissive, generalization about people, places, and things you don't actually know zip about.

I assure you that the owners of those Korean systems are as perceptive and serious as any audio nuts you will find anywhere, and far more experienced than all but a few. Don't confuse the fact that they have a lot of stuff with lack of discrimination. They know what the highlight components of their collections are and the rest is experimenting and trying things out.

And, I can't blame them for choosing WESTERN ELECTRIC, because I haven't heard anything better.

I haven't heard everything but I'd say I have experienced a fair cross section of audio gear. WECO theater speakers are another planet from the run of the mill "pro" stuff we play with--Altec, TAD, JBL, Vitavox.

Here is a pic of Krzysztov Penderecki hanging out in the Silbatone listening room this week, along with violinist and audio buff, Mr. Chi.

The Maestro was quite impressed with the Mirrophonic Type 2 system, saying "Now that is the real sound of concert music."

Wait...forgot the exclamation points, here ya go: !!!!!!!!!!

Maybe he was simply being polite, which is not a human impulse I'd expect to encounter in this forum, but at least he heard what he commented on. And maybe he knew what he was talking about.

I don't want to deviate from the purpose of the forum, but I'm sticking up for actual listening here, which is a step in the direction of music.

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