"Wally" wrote


I disagree with the notion that putting together a system with totally
different aspirations is an unhelpful paradigm. The aim isn't audiophonic
perfection for its own sake, but some sort of emotional response to music.
The 'accuracy' approach is one that people use to attain the said
response,
and it works for many. However, it should be pretty obvious that, if Keith
gets the emotional thing he's after from his kit, then it follows that the
accuracy approach cannot be the only one.


Quite. There's no such thing as true 'accuracy' when you are playing
recorded music in your own home - especially if you play LPs, when even a
cartridge change can result in significant alterations to the 'sound'. After
that, room acoustics and speaker colouration throws everyone else into the
same boat....

I don't try to kid myself about getting 'accuracy' in the 'signal
amplification' sense, I leave that to the designers and manufacturers - I am
only concerned with what I consider to be *natural* and seek to get a sound
that grabs and *keeps* my attention. For instance, one of my main complaints
about CD is nothing to do with what it may sound like but that, invariably,
I lose concentration and 'wander off' when one is playing.

IOW, after the occasional, initial impact of a 'clean and dynamic' sound
from some CDs, I find they quickly become quite *boring* - and the
'unnatural' length of a CD doesn't help....!!

(Like: CDs? Oh, they're fine, but I couldn't possibly manage a whole
one....!! ;-)

Prompts the question: Is there anyone here who can *really* listen to a
whole CD from beginning to end?

(Promps also the thought: Anyone who listens to a record is missing the
point - they should be listening to the *music*!! ;-)