Steve himself has mentioned he tends to focus more on subjectively enjoyable experiences than utterly faithful music reproduction. I thought I was in that camp as I dove into vinyl and some headphone sets with extremely shaped frequency curves. Somehow I wound up preferring neutrality and high fidelity, and went hard into digital, preferring my new CD transport as a source as right now it’s my most transparent form of digital audio. My transducer setups are also moving as close to flat and transparent as I can. So I guess I’ve come full circle.
That being said, I’m listening to either digital sourced material, or analog recordings that were digitally remastered very, very well. If someone is listening to a lot of music that predates hifi recordings, I can see transparency as perhaps being a downside. And ultimately I appreciate anything that gets people closer to their music, as long as it is capable of reproducing the details even if it selectively exagerrates some and suppresses others.
My home stereo now is based on a late Nineties Yamaha receiver and Bose 5.1 bookshelf system I inherited so… 😬 I also use Klipsch Sixes and a 10" sub which I got before that, so that really helps the top and bottom. But the Sixes were a bit harsh (mid scoop) before I added the Bose IVs in. I love it, but I know I’d get hate for it. Most normies are blown away by it though.
I’m pretty satisfied, but I’d like to add room treatment to give a bit more control to the subbass which I think isn’t as tight as it could be. And I am looking into potentially recapping my speakers and/or receiver.