Perfect by now

Edbo2

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Considering the years hi-fi manufacturers have been at it is it not strange that perfection has not been achieved! Rather like the soap powders where the latest product washes whiter than the one before. Amplifiers should perfectly reproduce the input signal at the output terminals and speakers likewise. But it is all about extra profit in reducing component count and cheapening manufacturing processes. A concert pianist I was reading about bought a modestly priced midi system for his needs. He quoted that no music system can match a live performance so there is no point in trying.
 
Whilst most amplifiers are very good at what they do and most speakers are also, it really does depend on what you mean by perfect.

With a two speakers stereo set-up it is just about impossible to recreate a live performance in your listening room. Some come closer than others but because you are not listening in the same situation to which it was recorded the recreation of a performance becomes, at best, acceptable.

He is right in a sense that it's just about the music.
 
K

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Edbo2 said:
Considering the years hi-fi manufacturers have been at it is it not strange that perfection has not been achieved! Rather like the soap powders where the latest product washes whiter than the one before. Amplifiers should perfectly reproduce the input signal at the output terminals and speakers likewise. But it is all about extra profit in reducing component count and cheapening manufacturing processes. A concert pianist I was reading about bought a modestly priced midi system for his needs. He quoted that no music system can match a live performance so there is no point in trying.
can't see the point of concert pianists remark? Part of the live experience isn't just the music, other things involved which add to the enjoyment of the concert..because a pianist makes some utterance about hifi..who cares? The sound at the o2 is awful..royal albert hall is good..but that depends on who is playing? Classical is good but rock concerts? Lol..i saw Radiohead at o2 overdriven noise! I'll keep my hifi..if I wanted to hear distorted yowling? I'll get a midi system and turn it up full
Volume!
 

Electro

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It's quite simple really , nothing is perfect , so enjoy what you have . *smile*

Although that may not stop you from wanting something better . *biggrin*
 
K

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The basics range I think..sainsburys 87p sausage and mash! Onion gravy too! With the money I'll save and added bonus weight loss! Titchy portion size! I'll be able to go and see more pianist's live in concert! It now makes sense..hahahaha
 

TrevC

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keeper of the quays said:
The basics range I think..sainsburys 87p sausage and mash! Onion gravy too! With the money I'll save and added bonus weight loss! Titchy portion size! I'll be able to go and see more pianist's live in concert! It now makes sense..hahahaha

More pianist's what?
 

TrevC

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Edbo2 said:
Considering the years hi-fi manufacturers have been at it is it not strange that perfection has not been achieved! Rather like the soap powders where the latest product washes whiter than the one before. Amplifiers should perfectly reproduce the input signal at the output terminals and speakers likewise. But it is all about extra profit in reducing component count and cheapening manufacturing processes. A concert pianist I was reading about bought a modestly priced midi system for his needs. He quoted that no music system can match a live performance so there is no point in trying.

Once you sort the speakers and the listening room and matched them with a low distortion amplifier and CD player you are getting pretty close to as good as you can get, and I've been to quite a few concerts where the sound is considerably worse than the sound in my living room.
 

ellisdj

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TrevC said:
Edbo2 said:
Considering the years hi-fi manufacturers have been at it is it not strange that perfection has not been achieved! Rather like the soap powders where the latest product washes whiter than the one before. Amplifiers should perfectly reproduce the input signal at the output terminals and speakers likewise. But it is all about extra profit in reducing component count and cheapening manufacturing processes. A concert pianist I was reading about bought a modestly priced midi system for his needs. He quoted that no music system can match a live performance so there is no point in trying.

Once you sort the speakers and the listening room and matched them with a low distortion amplifier and CD player you are getting pretty close to as good as you can get, and I've been to quite a few concerts where the sound is considerably worse than the sound in my living room.

TrevC enlighten us - How do you categorise the sorting of the speakers and listening room?

What is a low distortion amplifier to you?

What is the CD player that gets you as close to as good as you can get?
 

matthewpiano

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The most 'perfect' sound is acoustic instruments and unamplified vocals in a good acoustic. You can't replicate that perfectly whenever you introduce electronics, whether that be in the performance itself or in recording and reproducing it.

Hi-Fi, like most things in life, is a compromise. The only thing it can ever reproduce even close to accurately is the recording itself. Some equipment will do that, some doesn't and there is no guarantee that you'll enjoy the sound when it does because if you have any sort of variety in your music collection some recordings will be good ones, and others will be awful. If you really love the music you will still want to listen to the awful recordings, or rather be able to listen through the mess of the engineering in order to enjoy the music.
 
K

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TrevC said:
keeper of the quays said:
The basics range I think..sainsburys 87p sausage and mash! Onion gravy too! With the money I'll save and added bonus weight loss! Titchy portion size! I'll be able to go and see more pianist's live in concert! It now makes sense..hahahaha

More pianist's what?
yes i firmly believe more pianists live in the town of concert than elsewhere..however i could be misled by my lamentable ability to write in my country's tongue! Firmly in cheek of course..actually reply to #8...for some reason I reply and it says I replied to wrong reply which I did..but I didn't! I replied to right reply but it appeared to be wrong reply...software glitch..or sleep deprivation? Think former..
 
K

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TrevC said:
Edbo2 said:
Considering the years hi-fi manufacturers have been at it is it not strange that perfection has not been achieved! Rather like the soap powders where the latest product washes whiter than the one before. Amplifiers should perfectly reproduce the input signal at the output terminals and speakers likewise. But it is all about extra profit in reducing component count and cheapening manufacturing processes. A concert pianist I was reading about bought a modestly priced midi system for his needs. He quoted that no music system can match a live performance so there is no point in trying.

Once you sort the speakers and the listening room and matched them with a low distortion amplifier and CD player you are getting pretty close to as good as you can get, and I've been to quite a few concerts where the sound is considerably worse than the sound in my living room. 
+1
 

TrevC

Well-known member
ellisdj said:
TrevC said:
Edbo2 said:
Considering the years hi-fi manufacturers have been at it is it not strange that perfection has not been achieved! Rather like the soap powders where the latest product washes whiter than the one before. Amplifiers should perfectly reproduce the input signal at the output terminals and speakers likewise. But it is all about extra profit in reducing component count and cheapening manufacturing processes. A concert pianist I was reading about bought a modestly priced midi system for his needs. He quoted that no music system can match a live performance so there is no point in trying.

Once you sort the speakers and the listening room and matched them with a low distortion amplifier and CD player you are getting pretty close to as good as you can get, and I've been to quite a few concerts where the sound is considerably worse than the sound in my living room.

TrevC enlighten us - How do you categorise the sorting of the speakers and listening room?

What is a low distortion amplifier to you?

What is the CD player that gets you as close to as good as you can get?

Well, to start with:
Fuse_04_zpsde5970f8.jpg
you need a load of these distributed around all the plugs in the living room. Any amplifier will turn into a top of the rage zero distortion product with these in the plug. Then you need to treat the room with these.

Brilliant_Pebbles_All.jpg


Then one of these for your CDs.

50099990000.jpg


Then some wire like this to connect everything up with. You might need to add blocks of wood on the ends and a metal box half way along them all.

tangled-cables.png
 

chebby

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I stayed on a working farm for a few days and almost every ingredient of our meals had been produced within a few thousand metres of where I sat (and it was then cooked beautifully). Should I just eat microwaved ready meals from now on because it's impossible to replicate the experience?
 

ellisdj

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No it was a well composed joke TrevC - you are funny at times - with my all time favourite coming from you yesterday.

But jokes aside now - money where your typing is time please
 
I've known a few musicians over the years, both professional and amateur. Very rarely do they have any interest in hifi or audio gear. They do seem to have a great ability to hear what is actually going on in a recording, regardless of how dubious the reproduction is. That can be because they are only listening to a table radio or in the car, or to a 1930's transcription on CD.

I have been enthralled by the occasional concert or play on a car radio, so it is possible for the content to win out over the actual sound. What I think audiophiles like is the sheer joy of hearing something beautifully reproduced in the home, notwithstanding the technical barriers that need to be overcome.

As to the OP's point, most people thought that a Thorens, SME, Shure into Quad amps and electrostatics was the pinnacle, forty odd years ago. Things move on, and the best concert halls now sound better than ever! Top end hifi gets more diverse not more similar, so there is clearly no convergence of ideas on what is best.
 
K

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bigfish786 said:
I've been to hundreds of gigs, live music usually sounds pretty bad.?

I prefer my sofa, and solitude. And my hifi, doing its best.?

There isn't a huge queue for beer or toilets here either. 
+1
 

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