I also think its the other way around , the type of music one listens to is reflected in his system purchases
Do our systems influence the types of music we listen to?
- Thread starter PeterA
- Start date
This can most certainly be the case. If I had more money and a bigger room, I would buy the electronics and speakers that MadFloyd now has and I would probably enjoy listening to larger scale music a bit more than I do now. And I would make every effort to hear more large systems like those owned by David and MikeL to see how they sound when space and finances are less of an impediment.
Im not letting the system overtake anything, haven't you had bad sound days or even a bad system ever? There are also live venues that are really bad and kill the experience, at least for me. Madison Square Garden, NY is one such space. Both times left less than halfway through concerts that I was waiting most of my life for... Elton John & Jeff Beck!
david
I've heard more than one $100,000 system that sucked big time. So even if one had the finances I'd wager that it is possible to assemble a $500,000 system that sucked also.
Yes, although I like my current speakers, I would happily let a pair of XLF's come in ...
You have Soundlabs ? Right? Then a pair of XLF would actually provide you with more ...room ..in your room
My system although not the most expensive aint compromised apart from the acoustics / room , my speaker is topnotch , the only one i would want to swap it with for a certain amount of time to evaluate is the Q 7 from magico
You have Soundlabs ? Right? Then a pair of XLF would actually provide you with more ...room ..in your room
Although owner bias is always strong
, the XLF's are the only big speakers that have impressed me to the point I feel I would more happy with them than with A1's. Surely I have not listened to them all ... In order to get more room in my room I would pick Peter's Mini II - as I said above, a small speaker with big sound and a soul, added to an exceptional "natural"design.
Peter asked:
"Do our systems influence the types of music we listen to?
Or put another way, do we build our systems to play the types of music we prefer?"
In my case it was both, but now I have much more freedom in choosing the music that I listen to. I bought my system with minimonitors mainly for classical music. The choice of system did restrict my options regarding rock, but that was a compromise I was willing to make (except for people with unlimited resources, we all need to make certain compromises regarding our systems, even those of us who deny this -- those who want it all often end up unhappy). The addition of a subwoofer and later the acquisition of my Berkeley DAC, the first DAC that I have had that got rhythm & timing right, allowed for listening to rock music in a rather unrestricted manner (except for cranking up to unbearable volume levels, but I don't want to ruin my ears anyway). Green Day (album American Idiot) is reproduced on my system to powerful and exhilarating effect, as both Madfloyd and myself have experienced. In a similar manner, I have recently rocked out to AC/DC to great excitement (there were tons of mid-bass power as well). Does this ability to play rock influence my listening? To some extent, but not dramatically. My listening diet is still mainly classical and classical avantgarde, precisely the music that I bought the system for in the first place. Lately I have gotten big into jazz, however.
Would I have chosen a different system if I mainly wanted to play rock? Quite possibly. Yet for example with Jimi Hendrix' music a beautifully screaming guitar with proper dynamics and vivid transients is just as important to me as a good bass foundation. A large floor-standing speaker in the same price category would not have given me the guitar experience as much as my minimonitors do, now augmented by subwoofer.
"Do our systems influence the types of music we listen to?
Or put another way, do we build our systems to play the types of music we prefer?"
In my case it was both, but now I have much more freedom in choosing the music that I listen to. I bought my system with minimonitors mainly for classical music. The choice of system did restrict my options regarding rock, but that was a compromise I was willing to make (except for people with unlimited resources, we all need to make certain compromises regarding our systems, even those of us who deny this -- those who want it all often end up unhappy). The addition of a subwoofer and later the acquisition of my Berkeley DAC, the first DAC that I have had that got rhythm & timing right, allowed for listening to rock music in a rather unrestricted manner (except for cranking up to unbearable volume levels, but I don't want to ruin my ears anyway). Green Day (album American Idiot) is reproduced on my system to powerful and exhilarating effect, as both Madfloyd and myself have experienced. In a similar manner, I have recently rocked out to AC/DC to great excitement (there were tons of mid-bass power as well). Does this ability to play rock influence my listening? To some extent, but not dramatically. My listening diet is still mainly classical and classical avantgarde, precisely the music that I bought the system for in the first place. Lately I have gotten big into jazz, however.
Would I have chosen a different system if I mainly wanted to play rock? Quite possibly. Yet for example with Jimi Hendrix' music a beautifully screaming guitar with proper dynamics and vivid transients is just as important to me as a good bass foundation. A large floor-standing speaker in the same price category would not have given me the guitar experience as much as my minimonitors do, now augmented by subwoofer.
Last edited:
I think the likelihood of that happening is extremely small, although the ROOM might suck.
Or the amp/speaker matching, or the speaker positioning. But yes, often the room itself is the sucky component, I agree. But generally that can be taken care of as we know. Except of course when you stuff a super-sized speaker that only allows for perceived driver integration at a distance into a small room.
I did the same with a Peter Gabriel concert in Boston that I had VIP tickets for. My wife and I got to see the sound check which was great, but the actual show was intolerable from our 2nd row seats. So we walked back to where the mixing board was and it did sound better there but not being able to stay there we simply went home.
Fortunately I finally got to see Jeff Beck this year and it was in a small concert hall and sound was good.
I would say for myself, that my system never stopped me from listening to any particular music...but it certainly ENCOURAGED me to to listen to certain kinds of music more than others because the system was better able to cope with it...mainly i speak of extremely dynamic range, complex music. I had Symphonic works in my collection but did not take them out as often...that is, until i got the big Wilsons.
Suddenly, i 'randomly' decided to try Beethoven's symphonies and was stunned to feel far greater layering, understanding of the musical complexity and really enjoyed the music more. In live performances, i find that i 'get' nuances, contrapuntal themes, etc better...and was amazed to find myself hearing some of that with the big Wilsons. That has only increased as i have sought to push down distortion by isolating components from the floor (which transfers a lot of vibration).
And at this stage, i find i listen 'equally' to all kinds of music...but i know that i could NOT say that when i had my prior systems.
Suddenly, i 'randomly' decided to try Beethoven's symphonies and was stunned to feel far greater layering, understanding of the musical complexity and really enjoyed the music more. In live performances, i find that i 'get' nuances, contrapuntal themes, etc better...and was amazed to find myself hearing some of that with the big Wilsons. That has only increased as i have sought to push down distortion by isolating components from the floor (which transfers a lot of vibration).
And at this stage, i find i listen 'equally' to all kinds of music...but i know that i could NOT say that when i had my prior systems.
Similar threads
Members online
- kasin
- MarkusBarkus
- the sound of Tao
- Urbinator
- shawnf
- mikem
- Wjhen
- Chop
- Yosapol
- Buggy
- cjfrbw
- Olivier59
- Sampajanna
- TST
- Erikl
- kimurastanley
- chaccone
- Hiroshi
- skinnyfla
- tubes59
- spanosgeorge
- Kyle1
- leyenda
- sigbergaudio
- ChasFreeland
- Juko
- dakabali
- digit_linn
- dandylinpsst
- Rob77
- rocco1113
- Superdad
- Nuforce
- Downtheline
- thekong
- MarcelNL
- Mark212121
- mtemur
- tsaett
- Rensselaer
- orenatt
- carolus
- nonesup
- VoicesInMyHead
- Tiltedfault
- kyoya78
- Tlay
- Aries Cerat
- brianehrlich
- booker
 | Steve Williams Site Founder | Site Owner | Administrator |  | Ron Resnick Site Co-Owner | Administrator |  | Julian (The Fixer) Website Build | Marketing Managersing |