The loudest passages becoming less loud speaks to compression and or reduction in the overall dynamic range....when done on both ends of the frequency spectrum this is pretty dramatic....
Sometimes the recording engineer trying to accentuate something may reduce or increase a range of frequencies for whatever reason...all this results in a compression of what could have been ....
The real test is how it sounds when you play it at home on your system to most...
Way back in the beginning I wanted the least amount of 'stuff' in my system. I did not want a myraid of cables and preamps, amps, equalizers, etc...
It was simple, a really nice CD deck (Denon 3300) hooked with some silver Litz cables directly to a large amp, hooked to some fine speakers with some really fine cables ( or should I say really big in girth
)....
I had no preamp, no tape deck, no phono, no FM, no DSP or Lexicon stuff....just the shortest path between the CD to the speakers...
Maybe this is why I like small tight groups, artists etc...because you can really hear them, really clear and really up front and personal...with well recorded, material.
Anyhow... its a good discussion and anything that you think that really 'shines' on your SongTowers or other speakers is what we are looking for...regardless of materal....up to a point
Maybe we can get together as a group and get an Amazon discount!!
All the best..and the Kona this am is really good!
aa
Alex