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.
I had to add this… Depeche mode, other than the new stuff, is definitely a let down. They overly processed Dave’s vocals and went for a totally electronic sound. It is for sure a result of what they did and not your system. Your system is just revealing it for what it is.
If it helps at all I had the same reaction when I started upgrading. Currently on a Michi X3 and Spendor A7s and can say the sound is still different from more dynamic recordings - however, I have now got used to it and it sounds completely acceptable. It’s just going to take time for the presentation of the sound to normalise.
They are electronic band with electronic sound, or as Gore said: Soul music played by electronic instruments
They didn’t even have a drummer on live shows before Christian Eigner, I don’t count Alan’s amateur attempts on Devotional tour
Alan Wilder drumming on “Never let me down again” was good ;-)