I am offering the following (surely overly long) commentary as a response to my response from David Ellis and audiojerry and whoever cares to listen. Hope I don’t bore you guys to tears.
My opinions are gleaned from years of obstinately searching for a system that will let
me forget about
it.
I had a system like that, over 30 years ago. It was my first all out setup. Huge gas filled full range electrostatic panels assisted by two 18” wall mounted subwoofers also run full range.
It was the only system I’ve ever owned that friends would specifically come over to listen to for hours, to all kinds of music. Imagine, actually sit down and close our eyes and we were “in concert”. No cringing with glaring crescendos or kazoo like trumpets and saxophones, they soared and bloomed into the room, I learned to like Mahler on this system. Tubular bells and xylophones floated in space: the dynamic impact and harmonic overtones and decay of the real thing were unmistakable. The Eagles came to visit often, and Pink Floyd and Beethoven and Stravinsky.
I never made excuses about something not being set up right. There appeared to be no dynamic constraints, it was never discussed as a problem or a virtue. There was no issue of sound staging and imaging. Male and female voices appeared in black space with no grit, abrasiveness or irritating sibilance. Classical guitar (which I used to play as well as electric guitar, I was in a band) appeared and floated 2 to 3 feet in front of the speakers. Drum kits were life sized. Goose bumps in abundance.
And yes, without herbal assistance!
My girlfriend (now my wife) lived downstairs and she would often come up for listening sessions (amongst other things
). We were listening to music, not a stereo.
Then we got married, and sold everything in preparation for a big move and I reasoned I’d get a new and better system after we were settled. If this setup was so good without even trying, imagine what I could get with some research and effort and perhaps a few more bucks, pretty much the ultimate I thought.
Problem is
I really didn’t know what I had, and over 30 years later and a lot of wasted money I have not come even close as a whole, only in parts and that has always been with full range or 1st order time and phase aligned systems.
I have not heard mega systems such as Avant Guard horns, SoundLab electrostatic panels, Martin Logan Statements etc. No point from a financial perspective. I have owned electrostatics, ribbons, planar magnetics, scores of dynamic types etc. No go. The electrostatics and planars had some of the magic but too many other shortcomings. Horns and tubes also had some of the magic but ditto for the shortcomings. Ribbons always seemed to produce exaggerated transients with a snappy and edgy quality.
Of late, I have begun making my own speakers and concentrating on full range and quasi full range with an unexpected degree of success. I will likely never buy a commercial (as in a dealer showroom) brand name speaker again, although I think a lot of the kits and designs available trough the Internet are great value.
I started to believe that my recollection of my old system was tinged with romantic memories of younger days, but when I talk to my old friends not one of them has found again what they remember from my rig.
Who knows, perhaps it was all fortunate synergy, but the point of it all is that this level of realism is possible. Just wish I could find it (and afford it) again.
Things have gone way downhill since then. Digital blew away a lot of the efforts being achieved with analogue, and replaced it with years of crappy (or crappier) sound. Home Theater and MP3 have diverted the attention and interest of the younger generation from demanding better recording quality, where it all begins.
The other problem is that I cannot abide half truths in music reproduction. Either the whole picture is there or something is wrong. If something is wrong it is distracting and irritating. I really envy people that find enough musical satisfaction when one aspect or other of sound reproduction is to their liking. I really do. But these compromises are inevitable from a practical and financial viewpoint, I guess.
Got to start thinking in terms of acoustical watts and moving air. We have achieved reasonable tonal fidelity but lag in terms of dynamic range and transient accuracy, getting the whole picture right.
Pedro
