Good evening WBF members. Hmmmm, interesting poll. I'll bite.
60% - Individual timbres are highly accurate, in the vast majority of the spectrum
Good to go. Still room for improvement.
70% - Small ensembles are realistically reproduced (sans percussion)
In a surreal way. Outstanding, if you will.
75% - Now percussion is also realistically reproduced
Nowhere even close unless one is listening at extreme lower volume levels. Does it sound great from low levels to concert levels? Oh yeah, no doubt. Realistic? Eh, technology has a LONG way to go before we ever get there no matter what system one might have.
80% - I can realistically reproduce a grand piano
Yeah right. I believe this has much to do with the recording as much as the playback. Maybe even more so.
85% - Piano, ensembles, chamber orchestras, voices, strings, drums are all realistic
There's that "realistic" word again. For reproduction, many say it is outstanding and that they wouldn't change a thing. Realistically, I would beg to differ. No pun intended.
90% - Everything except scale is realistically reproduced
Perhaps. Depends on who is listening/what their personal preferences are. To me, close but yet
still so far away. It's that "realistic" word again. Perhaps "believable" or "outstandingly acceptable for a reproduction" would have worked better.
95% - Scale and overall level of reproduction is shockingly life-like with just about anything
Now you are talking. Yes, it always comes down to the recording and in the past I might have played my reference material when guests came over but not anymore. I now play what it is they want to hear and if they are interested in something fun and perhaps a reference type selection, I will abide.
100% - I can accurately reproduce any musical performance
Please excuse my French but....no way in hell. Nobody here can. Nobody on Earth can. It simply can not happen.
With that said, I did not vote on the poll. No, I am not happy with my system nor am I happy with any other system I have heard when trying to chase the goal in my signature. Real sound is real sound and when one is chasing realistic reproduction of music as well as real, natural sounds? No system is up to the task. Too many variables and that's not even including the recording and all of the variables within that aspect. If you aren't following where I am coming from, that's fine. I will not argue, that's not my style but please do hear me out if you are still reading this...
Compare live music to your system, Compare a lightning strike to your system. Starting from off at a distance, compare a train rolling by at 60 mph to your system. Compare the smack of a tom hat to your system. Compare a real earthquake to your system. Compare an automobile accident to your system. Even if one had a recording that was capable of properly capturing any of these, your system can not faithfully reproduce all of the aspects of the real sound itself. A close approximation perhaps....but not the real thing.
Am I pleased with my system? Of course. The vast majority of WBF members [I'm quite sure] would agree that they are pleased as well after experiencing it. Perhaps some of you heavy hitters here may even say that my rig hits the 95 percentile. Thing is, it doesn't matter. You may walk away with goose bumps. You may walk away with a high appreciation of what I have assembled. You may even not like it at all.
Thing is, I'll never see the finish line. I do not believe any of us will in our lifetimes. I sure am having a blast trying to get there and enjoying/experiencing the music along the way. To me, that's all that matters. Percentages and numbers just get in the way of the enjoyment so with that said, I think I'll throw on an album and enjoy the rest of my audio journey.
Tom
