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In the Forum: Playback Listening
In the Thread: Accuracy vs. Musicality (and YMMV)
Post Subject: Music vs. System vs. RecordingsPosted by Paul S on: 11/13/2026

Is it possible to put together a hi-fi system that maximizes all Music from all sources at all times? This is not something I can verify, that’s for sure. What I can verify is that there is an astounding range of approaches to Music appreciation via hi-fi, and I would not be interested in most of them for my own use. Among approaches I (gradually) turned my back on years ago are systems that have clearly recognizable own sound along with Music. Up for discussion, I suppose, is whether my current system has substantial own sound, and perhaps I’ll get back to that in another post. Having gone through a Lowthers and SETs phase, I understand there are things one can regularly get from this approach that elude other methods. As ever, YMMV, and it’s likely that plenty of people will not appreciate a given system, which is to say, as we all realize already, it’s personal, at least as far as what works with what, anyway. Although not everyone agrees about audible differences, what’s good, what’s bad, and what does or does not matter, I will none the less go with the idea that recordings are all over the place in terms of sound and – importantly – content, as some recordings are just not going to deliver Music, no matter what system they are played by. This might be due to lousy content, or poor performances, or it might be that the recording itself is so bad that it kills the Music. Fair to say, I think, that some systems can be like “secret sauce” on bland food, in the sense that they can enhance a recording, at least for some listeners, at times. Do we all remember the Loudness Button? And most high end audio products have some sort of signature sound, whatever they else they do or don’t do. Is this a problem?>>

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Paul S>>

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