[Pez]

I have been reading more and more about people who have "tuned" or designed their system to sound good with a particular type of music. In my mind I guess I don't understand how one goes about this? Is it about the type of speaker one buys? Or is there some other explanation. I know that some people perhaps enjoy a specific type of music more than another and perhaps listen to it on their system more than other types, but does that constitute a 'tuned' system? Please enlighten me as I have selected "huh"? 

For now this isn't about Digital vs Analog I know that is one way to approach this issue, but I understand that.

[JohnR]

Well, it's fairly unlikely that you're going to audition equipment with music that you don't like or don't listen to, right...?

[Pez]

True, but my point is wouldn't the piece of equipment you select sound just as good on ANY type of music?

[JohnR]

How would I know - I only listen to classical

[Don_S]

True, but my point is wouldn't the piece of equipment you select sound just as good on ANY type of music?

Not if the process of natural selection is allowed to occur unimpeded. The evolution of any system may be unconscious yet mandated by environment.  If the user emphasizes classical music as a priority and uses select pieces to evaluate equipment purchases then only equipment that is fittest for that environment will survive.

Chuck D.

[mfsoa]

I think we all tune for the type of music we listen to, on average.

I have played some of my daughter's pop music on my system, and if that was the type of music I listened to I would have gone in a different direction to deal with the horrid dreck that I heard.

-Mike

[Nuance]

True, but my point is wouldn't the piece of equipment you select sound just as good on ANY type of music?

Theoretically, perhaps.  Its the recordings that deem the music listenable or un-listenable, provided you already have a decent system and your room acoustics are manageable.  Some people tune their systems around well recorded material, and others to achieve a more pleasant listening experience with poorly recorded material.  And still others tune their system to be the most "accurate" to whatever the recording is, whether its poor or good.  So I guess my answer is no, they don't tune it around music genre, but rather around the quality of the recordings they most often listen to.

[*Scotty*]

No.  But it kind of doesn't matter if a person is happy with the sound of their system with only one genre of music. This approach,however does tell us that their system lacks the resolution to reveal the fact that recordings from within the same genre will sound very different from one another, and even recordings from the same artist will sound different from one recording to the next. Their system makes every recording sound similar to one another and to their ears their system sounds best with a certain genre of music.
Different strokes for different folks.
Scotty

[JohnR]

This approach,however does tell us that their system lacks the resolution to reveal the fact that recordings from within the same genre will sound very different from one another, and even recordings from the same artist will sound different from one recording to the next.

Hm. I fail to follow how you arrive at this conclusion.

[turkey]

I listen to a lot of types of music, so I wouldn't want a system that was better for one than another.

Some recordings are good in a technical sense, and some are bad. Some music is good (IMO) and some is bad. Some performances are good and some are bad.

I prefer these things to come through my system accurately. I can then decide what I want to listen to or not. I don't need sound effects to polish a turd. I can either admire it in all its turdness, or reject it altogether.

I have noticed over the years that, as my system gets better, a lot of poor recordings are less objectionable, and a lot of poor performances are more objectionable. I think my system is letting me listen "beyond" some things, and sometimes that is good and sometimes it isn't.

[*Scotty*]

With sufficient system resolution you may discover that recordings sound different enough from one another that it is now impossible to optimize the sound of the system for the genre. You may optimize it for a specific recording only to find that the next one doesn't sound so good.  I find that the spotlight miking and multi-miking done in the 70's recordings of some classical music to be very annoying,if I were to try make my system pleasing with these recordings I might find that older recordings from the late 50's do not sound right and those recordings with a purest miking approach wouldn't fair well either.
Scotty

[werd]

I listen to a lot of electric jazz and Hard rock/metal. I really don't think you need to spend any money on gear if all you listen to is metal. So i buy my gear with my jazz tastes in mind.

[turkey]

I suppose that we might also ask people whether or not they use tone controls, effects processors, or a "warm" sound from tube equipment, etc.

It would be interesting to see what is considered acceptable, and what we can never use if we're "audiophiles."

My current preamp doesn't have tone controls, and I actually regret that. I would like to have tone controls, as long as I can switch them completely off when I'm not using them. A loudness button (or even better an adjustable loudness control) would be really nice for late-night listening too.

[turkey]

I listen to a lot of electric jazz and Hard rock/metal. I really don't think you need to spend any money on gear if all you listen to is metal. So i buy my gear with my jazz tastes in mind.

On the other hand, I have always regarded most of the Led Zeppelin albums as being hopeless in terms of sound quality. However, I recently heard some of their songs that had been remastered, and there's a lot to be gotten out of those old recordings. In particular, the distortion from Jimmy Paige's guitar sorts itself out from everything else and the whole recording no longer sounds grungy - just the guitar. I was amazed to be able to pick out the sound of the drumheads from the resonances of the shells. I didn't think they captured that kind of detail.

[Nuance]

I listen to a lot of electric jazz and Hard rock/metal. I really don't think you need to spend any money on gear if all you listen to is metal. So i buy my gear with my jazz tastes in mind.

I dunno...I listen to a lot of rock/metal, and while some is very poorly recorded, most is acceptable through high resolution speakers.  In fact, some of it sounds much better through a revealing speaker (listening to Nevermore's Dreaming Neon Black right now, and it sounds amazing).  The recording industry seems to be getting better, even with rock/metal.  80's hair metal doesn't count, though.   

If the recording is absolutely horrendous, I doubt it will sound good on any speaker. 

As usual, this is just my opinion and YMMV.

[BobM]

I listen to a lot of jazz on my system, but that includes all kinds of jazz from jazz rock to fusion to traditional to blues based to trios to ... This makes my system pretty good for rock also, which I do listen to also.

However, I rarely listen to classical and when I do I feel that my system really can't reproduce it correctly. My speakers just aren't big enough. Classical, to me sounds best on big speakers, like Maggi's and such. But jazz and rock on Maggi's doesn't float my boat at all (not enough kick/punch).

So I guess I have tuned to the kind of music I listen to most often, which makes sense. It can't do it all, but then nothing can IMO.

[ltr317]

I didn't tune my system for a particular type of music, but for the particular sound that I prefer.  I like a slightly warm, organic and smooth sound, but with good resolution.  This sound is close to that which is produced by live music that I frequently attend. 

[turkey]

However, I rarely listen to classical and when I do I feel that my system really can't reproduce it correctly. My speakers just aren't big enough. Classical, to me sounds best on big speakers, like Maggi's and such. But jazz and rock on Maggi's doesn't float my boat at all (not enough kick/punch).

I've found that big panel speakers like you mention or ESLs just don't reproduce dynamics well enough to do a good job on classical music. This is less noticeable on other types of music that doesn't involve as many acoustic instruments, but it sure stands out like a sore thumb on a big orchestral work.

[Tyson]

I voiced my system for classical because it is by far the most demanding music type (and the best, for a quality standpoint too).  If your system can produce classical well, all other music styles are a cake-walk.

[roscoeiii]

Things would be easier for me if I listened to one style of music near exclusively. I know that many will groan when I mention active vs. passive preamps, but this for me is where it was very clear that certain types of equipment may be better suited to certain genres of music. The first passive I tried was fantastic on small ensemble acoustic works, but the active I compared it to gave larger scale recordings and more complexly produced recordings more impact and oomph than the passive. At the expense of the lovely passive detail however. Had to spend considerably more money to find an active pre that delivered the detail of the passive I'd used previously.