Multiple speaker bliss!
Reply #9 – 2012-04-19 22:29:44
I listen mainly to classical and can't get this multichannel thing. Haven't tried myself, but I imagine it will only worsen my listening experience. Right!!! The goal of high fidelity is to accurately reproduce the recording. Yes, it's in the name! Oh, but… wait a minute… I've always thought that the goal of audio gears is to let me enjoy the music as better as possible! On the other hand... If you can simulate the sound of a concert hall (to some extent) in your living room, you might like it! And, the artificial reverb coming from behind might even be a more accurate representation of the live musical experience. You see, when I attend a concert (and I do this about once a week) I concentrate to hear the actual music, the one the instruments are making, not the sound of the hall. The acoustic of a large concert hall, even the most perfect one has not a value per se, but only inasmuch it helps you to enjoy music even in the actually not so favorable situation of being in a crowded place, far away from the stage, with other people all around you silently-but-not-too-much chatting, coughing, breathing… even snorting sometimes! Ok, just kidding a little, nevertheless I will gladly exchange a seat in the last row at Wiener Musikverein for the conductor's podium in a bad sounding hall, I tell you, (with the Wieners still in front of me, of course! ) so what I try to reproduce at home is the podium, not the last row! As to say: larger than... live! If you don't know anyone with a good home theater system, you might take one of your classical CDs to a home theater store and give it a listen. Ok, I'll see if I could try. But, and not to be biased, I know also that what could first makes you raise your eyebrows could also become uninteresting, if not tiresome in the long run: you wow for the first ten minutes, then struggle to concentrate!I do have lots of 5.1 channel rock-concert DVDs and most sound amazing. But of course, there is a lot of "artificial" mixing & panning so (thankfully ) you don't get the true room-sound. Oh yes, I take this for granted: I like rock too and I understand perfectly well what actually makes a live happening experience so much enjoyable, or the cozy atmosphere of a jazz club and I understand that being able to reproduce that good mood is definitely a plus!