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In the Forum: Audio Discussions
In the Thread: Loudspeaker: Sound reproduction has not changed.
Post Subject: Re: Musicality. Linn revisited?Posted by guy sergeant on: 1/24/2005
Hi Romy,
I hope you're feeling better.
This individual used to be a theatre actor (and sometime critic) and used to participate in and go to plays much of the time. Since an unfortunate accident he is now wheelchair bound and cannot get to theatre easily at all. In his case the amplifier I'd recommend would have to be able to cope with the needs of his speakers. (made not far from you actually, in Haverhill. Snell AIII's )
The point of making this post is that good audio equipment should be able to realistically reproduce the illusion of a recorded event regardless of its content and that, in my view, 'musicality' per se is too prone to subjectivity to be a useful yardstick in objectively assessing the merit of a component or system.
For many years, Linn used a similar maxim although not based on as thoroughly developed thinking as yours. Their 'follow the tune' approach was very successful until their systems were confronted with material lacking specific tunes at which point they rather lost the plot.
An event sounds no more or less real because of its content. My next door neighbour teaches piano. Her piano sounds just as real when a novice is playing a simple tune with one finger (badly) or when she is playing something more complex (well). It has nothing to do with what is being played or the degree to which it engages the senses. You have to examine what it is about the sound of her piano (even coming through a wall) that tells you it's real and not reproduced.
I have an old kitchen radio (made by Hacker in the 60's) which communicates 'musicality' very well. I can derive a great deal of enjoyment listening to a live FM broadcast of a BBC lunchtime concert. It isn't trying to recreate the concert in my kitchen but it conveys the message in the music well enough. The same can happen in the car if I am of a mind to let it. Neither of these constitutes serious audio but both can be very 'musical'.
I think there are attributes which good components/systems have that hold true regardless of the source material and which may be listened for. In my case they require that the source material contains acoustic rather than synthetically generated sounds. I can relate to how this type of music sounds in real life and make my assessment based on that experience. There are people whose musical tastes cover only synthesised, technology based material. They find their own ways of judging equipment. I wouldn't be so bold as to suggest that the sort of electronics or speakers I prefer would be the best solution for their needs.
regards,
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