New system to review got me thinking about presentation
Written by Terry Ellis January 2019
2018 was a great year for me in my HiFi review career, I listened to many systems costing from hundreds to hundreds of thousands taking something useful away from every demonstration. I reviewed and spent time with many different excellent HiFi components with every new one making an impression on me in its own right, showing me why the companies that make these products have been successfully selling them year after year. The learning curve throughout 2018 was both enjoyable and steep, I feel my understanding of what constitutes great audio quality has evolved in this time or has it? I have developed a clear focus on what I feel is the benchmark of a great audio system and foolishly assumed this would be a collective opinion among audiophiles, audiophiles rarely agree on much and the topic of audio system presentation could be as debatable as cables and accessories
I started discussions with a UK retailer in the later part of 2018 to review some of the equipment they specify, they had seen my videos, appreciated how honest I am in my evaluations, especially in my reactions, I care and its all over my face when I am on camera, so I am told. The Audio Consultants are a HiFi dealership based in Aldermaston which is about 10 miles outside of Reading, they have been established for over three decades and they are run by what I would call serious audiophiles. What constitutes the term "serious" in relation to an audiophile, someone who takes audio quality extremely seriously. So serious in fact that during our discussions on audio performance, system components, accessories we didn't agree on much and one strong opinion "butted" against another one and became quite heated at times, all in good spirits.
I am a serious audiophile and I think being such can bring out the best and worst traits of my personality, I am deeply invested in the goal to continuously improve the audio quality of my review system, I research, I investigate I strive to achieve perfection and am motivated to do so. In contrast I am stubborn, I can be closed minded and very judgemental before I have even listened. Its my job to not be like this, however the audiophile in me is a difficult beast to control at times. Why is this important and why is this even relevant?
The heated debates I had with the guys from the Audio Consultants showed we have a very different opinion on what constitutes great audio performance and that we focus on different things as being the most important criteria. My focus is on a tight and focused sound, with clean and clear leading edges of notes and sound stage clarity, getting as close to the audio (essentially the microphones used to record) as possible . The Audio Consultants set a system up to sound like the listener is in a concert hall several rows back from the front in the "best seats" in the venue. These are two very different goals and to achieve them you might need to use different audio equipment, accessories, acoustic treatments, speaker placement etc.
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So who is right?
A heated debate is inevitable when serious audiophiles with such differing goals are discussing "what is best" to achieve their differing desired goals. Where did these goals even come from and do they even make sense, this is what I have been thinking about for the last few weeks.
Its naturally very easy for me to defend my goal of "getting closer to the music" the closest we can get is the microphones that were used to record the real event. To me this makes absolute sense for the target of an audio system, creating complete clarity, perfect frequency response at the listening position for perfect musical translation and with the room adding nothing to the sound. To me this is getting the music, all the music with nothing added or taken away but to some audiophiles this is with things being taken away.
For audiophiles like The Audio Consultants who are seeking a Concert Hall type of experience they are looking for a 3 dimensional sound stage from the speakers to as far beyond the speakers as is possible, with the listening room being used to add or create the ambience and sense of listening in a larger or different venue. The music doesn't have to be as tightly focused or precise it has to create this sense of overall immersion and the sense of looking onto a performance. There was a comment left by one one of my viewers that I think explains this difference better than I can.
A heated debate is inevitable when serious audiophiles with such differing goals are discussing "what is best" to achieve their differing desired goals. Where did these goals even come from and do they even make sense, this is what I have been thinking about for the last few weeks.
Its naturally very easy for me to defend my goal of "getting closer to the music" the closest we can get is the microphones that were used to record the real event. To me this makes absolute sense for the target of an audio system, creating complete clarity, perfect frequency response at the listening position for perfect musical translation and with the room adding nothing to the sound. To me this is getting the music, all the music with nothing added or taken away but to some audiophiles this is with things being taken away.
For audiophiles like The Audio Consultants who are seeking a Concert Hall type of experience they are looking for a 3 dimensional sound stage from the speakers to as far beyond the speakers as is possible, with the listening room being used to add or create the ambience and sense of listening in a larger or different venue. The music doesn't have to be as tightly focused or precise it has to create this sense of overall immersion and the sense of looking onto a performance. There was a comment left by one one of my viewers that I think explains this difference better than I can.
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Where did this difference come from?
I have been thinking about how serious audiophiles decide on the goal for their own HiFi system, what might motivate them to make this decision. I understand the audiophile who regularly goes and listens to live music might want their home system to mimic this and remind them of this. What about when they listen to albums that were recorded in a studio or are produced wholly within a computer, do we really want these albums to sound like they are played live?
Could it be an age related thing, I class myself as a younger breed of serious audiophile still in my 30's and appreciate a lot of audiophiles who might be in their 50's and 60's grew up with different music, different technologies and likely appreciate different music to me and appreciate different things about it.
Is it familiarisation, if we hear a sound signature a lot and attribute it to sounding like a "concert hall" or like being "microphone close" that then becomes the reference point to judge all else against. This is particularly the case with the effects room acoustics treatment applications, size and shape of listening rooms and very so much listening distances from speakers.
Is it actually a result of a combination of all three of the above and more besides, quite possibly.
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But does it really matter? Emotion matters more
I think it matters greatly and is possibly the cause for so much debate and heated argument between audiophiles on forums, its also the reason for the huge variety of speakers, and systems that are available today all claimed to be the best thing in audio since sliced bread.
I think it likely boils down to our emotions and what style of musical presentation is more engaging for the individual to listen to. This is a very grey area, and one needs to tread carefully, its very easy to confuse more engaging (short term) with actually better sound quality long term.
I think it likely boils down to our emotions and what style of musical presentation is more engaging for the individual to listen to. This is a very grey area, and one needs to tread carefully, its very easy to confuse more engaging (short term) with actually better sound quality long term.
I hope this inspires those who might not be sure
I did not set out with a goal in mind for my audio system, did I make a very big mistake there potentially so, because if you don't know where you want to go, how can you work out how to get there? If you don't know where "there is" its then a continuous search and hunt for the next improvement with no real clear goal in sight. I can see many audiophiles having a very different approach, knowing full well the sound they desire and then resting happy once that is achieved, I deeply respect those audiophiles while at the same time not quite understanding how they can be so contempt and settled, unless perfection is achieved of course.
I thought I would write this article in hope it might inspire any audiophile who reads it to start thinking about what overall presentation they want to achieve, do they want clarity and perfection like me or a concert hall experience or something else entirely. I think when we focus on a goal its far easier to set a target, spend our time and money wisely achieving that target. Its also easier to say something is "better" when its better is in context, getting closer to the desired goal. This article hopefully helps to clarity what my target is, so that when I write reviews or speak in my videos you have that context to help understand what I am saying and why I am saying it.
I hope this article has been interesting and helpful and appreciate you reading it, all the best, see you in a video soon.
I thought I would write this article in hope it might inspire any audiophile who reads it to start thinking about what overall presentation they want to achieve, do they want clarity and perfection like me or a concert hall experience or something else entirely. I think when we focus on a goal its far easier to set a target, spend our time and money wisely achieving that target. Its also easier to say something is "better" when its better is in context, getting closer to the desired goal. This article hopefully helps to clarity what my target is, so that when I write reviews or speak in my videos you have that context to help understand what I am saying and why I am saying it.
I hope this article has been interesting and helpful and appreciate you reading it, all the best, see you in a video soon.