So I don’t have a super high-end system by any means. I have JBL L36 speakers. They sound awesome. There is some music that sounds absolutely incredible on them. The Beatles – Abbey Road. Oscar Peterson - We Get Requests, Robag Wruhme - Thora Vukk, Lorde - The Louvre…

There is some of my favourite music however, that sounds completely non-impactful and wimpy on the speakers as well. Depeche Mode - Never Let Me Down Again, and in fact most of their catalogue. Bowie - Berlin trilogy sounds weak but it slams in my car…

I would really love to know if someone has a great system and Depeche Mode/Bowie sound fantastic on it.

  • ScooterMcTavish@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    11 months ago

    As someone who’s also attempted to get to the “audiophile nirvana” of perfectly flat presentation, I just can’t so it.

    Not only does much music lose its enjoyability (I.e. rock and dance NEED bass), an excruciatingly detailed system grossly reveals every flaw and issue with the source recording. And from experience, I can state chasing detail (especially on good recordings) can be addictive.

    So, I’ve made a conscious decision to move to “musical” components over “detailed”, while also being very conscious of how well they pair with each other. So although I may not be able to hear someone farting in the studio, even bad recordings remain listenable.

    • stumblingmonk@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      11 months ago

      Are you saying that controlling the level of bass changes the amount of detail you can hear? That doesn’t really make sense to me. Wouldn’t more bass make a fart sound louder? What does “musical” vs “detailed” mean and how do they compete?

      • soonerstu@alien.topBEnglish
        1·
        11 months ago

        I think the fart was a bad example. I see it as a detailed system maybe you can hear the guitarist sliding his fingers on the strings. In a more musical system that detail may be lost due to emphasized bass, but it sounds better because the bass is the heart of a rock song not those little details that get revealed on a more accurate system.

        • stumblingmonk@alien.topBEnglish
          1·
          11 months ago

          Yeah I like the bass. I have two 15” subs in mine. Just never thought I was loosing anything by turning it up.

          • nonconveniens@alien.topBEnglish
            1·
            10 months ago

            Emphasizing one frequency range always means losing in another. It’s all about relative sound levels. Have to choose what’s most important to you.

    • Tonteldoos_ZA@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      10 months ago

      100% this. All I can add to this, is that in my experience it’s not so much about bass vs detail either (although it does play a role). There’s just music you can feel, and there are components out there that makes it easy possible. And not at the cost of detail either. Hard to describe until you hear it.