Recording v Playing

[SteveTheShadow]

Well, as my musical diet consists of 50s rock'n roll, 60s pop/rock, Stax, Motown & Atlantic 60s soul, Northern Soul, 50s/60s Blues & R&B, 70s Philly soul, 60s easy listening, in the Matt Monro, Petula Clark, Bert Kaempfert mode, acoustic jazz, electronic jazz, latin, modern blues, country, and classical, my system has to be able to cope with them all.

It has to be the playback for me. Some of those 60s recordings can sound execrable on the wrong equipment. I demand that my system be able to play all of these genres regardless of the recording quality and be able to make everything enjoyable to listen to.
A system that cant do that is a failed,system.....end of. Controversial I know, but there it is.
It has taken me the best part of forty years to reach a quality of system that is able to do this wide range of musical styles and eras justice, so I know it can be done.
Anyone who claims that a system that purports to show up mercilessly the quality of the source material and is therefore a good system is quite simply talking out of their behind.

[zebbo]

But the musicality/quality HAS to be there first surely. The system is supposed to introduce nothing, (ideally), or realistically as little as possible. If it's going to rose-up a shite recording what's it doing to a perfectly good one?

[SteveTheShadow]

Who said anything about rosing anything up?
IME a good system shows you what is there without making a meal of faults in the source material.
For instance, a speaker with a "three humps" frequency response will sound like garbage on 90% of your music,
but marvelous on the other ten percent. It's wrong and will dictate with tight constraints what it allows you to listen to.

For me, hi-fi is not about being a discerning listener concerning the quality or not of recordings, it is all about widening musical horizons, discovering new sounds and enjoying the experience. It is arguable that you could do this equally well with a good transistor radio and save a whole wodge of dosh into the bargain, but good hi-fi takes things to another level entirely, whilst, as a transistor radio does, still allowing the widest possible appreciation of the plethora of musical styles available to the listener.

[zebbo]

I agree about the radio thing. I really enjoy listening to all sorts of crap on my radio, that I wouldn't dream of putting on my hi-fi, but it's only because I'm doing something else. When I'm sitting on the sofa listening to the stereo I'm demanding to be entertained by the music alone. I love Matt Monro but if I put on an old, cheap recording that clearly sounds like the recording limits have been ignored and his voice starts turning to mush at the extremes I can't listen to it.

"IME a good system shows you what is there without making a meal of faults in the source material." Isn't that a contradiction?

[_D_S_J_R_]

Oasis records sound pretty dire regardless of playback system, and were deliberately mixed that way apparently. The first Rage Against The Machine album (I think it was their first, with the burning monks on the cover) just gets angrier and angrier and more like a live band the bigger better the system gets.

I can only say that I have been very surprised in recent months how records and CD's I once thought not well done now sound rather involving.

[SteveTheShadow]

I agree about the radio thing. I really enjoy listening to all sorts of crap on my radio, that I wouldn't dream of putting on my hi-fi, but it's only because I'm doing something else. When I'm sitting on the sofa listening to the stereo I'm demanding to be entertained by the music alone. I love Matt Monro but if I put on an old, cheap recording that clearly sounds like the recording limits have been ignored and his voice starts turning to mush at the extremes I can't listen to it.

"IME a good system shows you what is there without making a meal of faults in the source material." Isn't that a contradiction?

Yes I can see your points but I don't see why it is a contradiction that a good system does not make a meal of faults.
A good system does not hide faults, but at the same time it should never be drawing your undivided attention to them.
If it is doing that, then there is something wrong with it.

[Dr Bunsen Honeydew]

Glad I started this thread - good debate.

[Lindsayt]

OK let's take an example:
one well recorded album: Dire Straits Communique
One not so well recorded album: Curves Doppelganger

My less favourite vinyl playing system: LP12/Ittok/troika, EAR 834p, Creek 4040 Heybrook HB1's
My favourite vinyl system: EMT 950, Korneff 45 clone, EV Patrician 800's.

Play the Dire Straits on the LP12 system followed by the EMT system. Both times it's enjoyable. On the EMT system it sounds more grown up, more authorative, less like a hi-fi system and more like actual musicians with actual instruments in the room. It's more of a special event on the better system.

Now play the Curve on each system. The EMT system will eke out a bit more dynamic contrast, a bit more interest and make it less of a chore to listen to.

Play the Curve followed by the Dire Straits on the LP12 system and it's clear that the Dire Straits is the much better recording. Also, when listening to the Curve album first you're likely to be sitting there thinking "This is a shit recording." Do the same thing again on the EMT system and again it's clear that the Dire Straits is the much better recording. But this time when listening to the Curve, you're less likely to be thinking "This is a shit recording." You're more likely to be listening to the music for what it is.


And then there's litmus recordings. Like the Boomtown Rats album with Banana Republic on it. On the LP12 system, Banana Republic was the only track I liked to listen to on that album. With the EMT system I like the whole album.

[jammy395]

So which is more important to our pleasure, good recording or good playback system. (Doc).

This thread could run and run.

Told ya its a "Chicken & the Egg" type conundrum.

[Fretless]

Is the performance factor not important? What the artist is trying to get across is terms of a message or emotion or atmosphere? The function of an audio system is then to reproduce the intention of a performer and how well that is recorded is not so relevant.