I often describe the desired experience of high end audio as one of live—as if the musicians were captured live.
One of our HiFi Family members pointed out a problem with this. Most live music doesn't sound all that great. Whether you're at a small nightclub venue with a PA system, or in the audience of a big event, live amplified music generally isn't all that high fidelity.
Let me attempt to rephrase what it is we want in a high-performance 2-channel audio system.
We'd like to be in the room with the musician—as if that singer or acoustic guitar player were only a few feet from our listening chair: close enough to hear every intimate detail, yet not so close that they're blowing our ears up.
So live? Sure, if it's an actual live recording captured without amplification, like our Live at Nocturne recording.
But for a high-end 2-channel audio system?
In the room with the musicians works best for me.
