A Tale of Two Live Concerts

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nicoff

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In the past two weeks I attended a couple of live concerts. One was a pop music concert; the other a performance of Mahler's Resurrection Symphony.

The sound of the Pop concert was not good at all. To be fair, it was set in a basketball arena which is not a music venue. The sound was so loud that the sound waves would travel the entire arena and reflect from the back wall muddling the sound. I recall thinking: I can do much better at home.

By contrast, the sound of Mahler's 2nd in a concert hall (Kennedy Center) was nothing short of spectacular. My stereo system, by comparison, sounds puny compared to the expansive landscape of sound and the dynamics of a full orchestra with over 200 performers on stage. This is the true "absolute sound" and while we can enjoy listening to our stereo systems, there is absolutely no way that a two-speaker system can replicate that.
 
I have never wanted my system to sound like the concerts I have attended. AKA Live Music.

I am not very schooled in Classical but did attend the Philly Pops with John Glenn when the Kimmel Center first opened. It was like sitting inside of a huge Cello.
 
Brian, the Kimmel center did have some problematic SQ issues when it first opened. With that being said they have been resolved and I for one consider it quite good. Prior to COVID I averaged 2-3 concerts a year
 
nicoff said:
In the past two weeks I attended a couple of live concerts. One was a pop music concert; the other a performance of Mahler's Resurrection Symphony.

The sound of the Pop concert was not good at all. To be fair, it was set in a basketball arena which is not a music venue. The sound was so loud that the sound waves would travel the entire arena and reflect from the back wall muddling the sound. I recall thinking: I can do much better at home.

By contrast, the sound of Mahler's 2nd in a concert hall (Kennedy Center) was nothing short of spectacular. My stereo system, by comparison, sounds puny compared to the expansive landscape of sound and the dynamics of a full orchestra with over 200 performers on stage. This is the true "absolute sound" and while we can enjoy listening to our stereo systems, there is absolutely no way that a two-speaker system can replicate that.
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Thanks Captain Obvious.
 
Mahlers 2nd: my favorite classical symphony. Once, I got the opportunity to listen that one in the Royal Concert Building in Amsterdam. It was so beautiful and got something what never happened to me before, I got tears in my eyes when the Alt started singing. And the best part still had to come, the last 15 minutes, when the chorus stands up,

That sound from there: it cannot be reached by any system, it does not even come close. In my opinion, everyone who loves classical, must visit a live concert from the second of Mahler.
 
Alkyogre said:
Mahlers 2nd: my favorite classical symphony. Once, I got the opportunity to listen that one in the Royal Concert Building in Amsterdam. It was so beautiful and got something what never happened to me before, I got tears in my eyes when the Alt started singing. And the best part still had to come, the last 15 minutes, when the chorus stands up,

That sound from there: it cannot be reached by any system, it does not even come close. In my opinion, everyone who loves classical, must visit a live concert from the second of Mahler.
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The combination of the power and emotion of the Resurrection Symphony and the spectacular acoustics of the Concertgebouw must have been thrilling. I assume it was performed by the RCOA, one of the two or three best orchestras in the world. What a treat. Larry
 
Alkyogre said:
That sound from there: it cannot be reached by any system, it does not even come close. In my opinion, everyone who loves classical, must visit a live concert from the second of Mahler.
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Agree with the latter but disagree with the former. While 100% true inside the audiophile bubble, outside it was entirely possible to come "scarily" close...20+ years ago.
But more to Nicoff's point, very very few "audiophiles" today want any such thing, most don't listen to classical at all, well stated by the other witness of the same experience

I drove back to Brooklyn deep in thought. There was no doubt that I had experienced audio playback of considerably higher fidelity than I had ever experienced from a two-channel system. But did I want that experience in my own listening room? As always, it comes down to what you want a recording to do: reproduce the music you love in "whatever fidelity is appropriate"; or reproduce a very small amount of other people's music in as high a fidelity as possible.
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Bold emphasis mine.

Btw, what is a "Bach He2S speaker"? Google shows something off Alibaba that looks like a Tannoy.

Edit, never mind, Bach Luidsprekers did it

cheers,

AJ
 
AJ Soundfield said:
Edit, never mind, Bach Luidsprekers did it

cheers,

AJ
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Pretty interesting looking speakers, I have a CD Rack to match them

vlnr_Straight-up-1_-Tango-1_S1_Tango2.jpg

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AJ Soundfield said:
Agree with the latter but disagree with the former. While 100% true inside the audiophile bubble, outside it was entirely possible to come "scarily" close...20+ years ago.
But more to Nicoff's point, very very few "audiophiles" today want any such thing, most don't listen to classical at all, well stated by the other witness of the same experience


Bold emphasis mine.

Btw, what is a "Bach He2S speaker"? Google shows something off Alibaba that looks like a Tannoy.

Edit, never mind, Bach Luidsprekers did it

cheers,

AJ
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If it sounded so good, how come 20+ years later people still aren't buying it?
 
mep said:
Quote Originally Posted by AJ Soundfield
Agree with the latter but disagree with the former. While 100% true inside the audiophile bubble, outside it was entirely possible to come "scarily" close...20+ years ago.
But more to Nicoff's point, very very few "audiophiles" today want any such thing, most don't listen to classical at all, well stated by the other witness of the same experience
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If it sounded so good, how come 20+ years later people still aren't buying it?
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You already quoted my answer.
Truthfully, one certainly wouldn't need a PSR type system to play Oingo Boingo, Foghat, etc that audiophiles judge "SQ" by.
 
When i go to a pop/rock concert at one of those sports arenas, I splurge and buy floor seats at around row 10-15. That's probably the best I can do, sound wise (and it's fun to actually see the performers).

If I do the experiment and turn my head 90 degrees, the huge echo is very apparent. Which is one reason why sitting in those "luxury suites" for a concert is terrible if you actually want to hear it.
 
Bart001 said:
Which is one reason why sitting in those "luxury suites" for a concert is terrible if you actually want to hear it.
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Well, a wall of mono at obscene SPLs sounds just fine to me from suites, I'm really just enjoying the atmosphere/music/musicianship itself, not at all listening for "SQ". And of course the imbibing and nourishments flows more easily, not to mention access to bathroom!

cheers,

AJ
 
Bart001 said:
When i go to a pop/rock concert at one of those sports arenas, I splurge and buy floor seats at around row 10-15. That's probably the best I can do, sound wise (and it's fun to actually see the performers).

If I do the experiment and turn my head 90 degrees, the huge echo is very apparent. Which is one reason why sitting in those "luxury suites" for a concert is terrible if you actually want to hear it.
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We have an old decent size theater nearby called the Keswick Theatre. Sound is decent almost anywhere, but I always felt it was better in the last few rows. I would regularly watch half the show from my seat up front, then take an empty seat in the back for the other half of the show for the SQ vs seeing their fingers on stage.
 
AJ Soundfield said:
Hah, yes
Bach-S1-HE-1_thumb-390x205.jpg
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An overview of my current system. This month I added the Bryston preamp and the NCore monoblocks.
The speakers are handcrafted by Bach (by the way: no family), I bought this after listening at an audioshow and really happy with these.
As source the intel nuc with fanless case with the Singxer digital to digital converter connected to the denafrips ares dac.
 

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AJ Soundfield said:
Well, a wall of mono at obscene SPLs sounds just fine to me from suites, I'm really just enjoying the atmosphere/music/musicianship itself, not at all listening for "SQ". And of course the imbibing and nourishments flows more easily, not to mention access to bathroom!

cheers,

AJ
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I dont "listen for SQ," I find the huge echo so utterly distracting that I don't enjoy the music. In the TD Garden (Boston), the echo really is horrendous.
 
About Mahler Symphonies: the second one, the resurrection it is amazing, but for me, the third one love it very much, in my opinion the second and third are absolutely in quality unbelievable

After those 2 I love the 5th because of the adagio inside, they may turn that one at my funeral: it sounds like funeral music, but it is written a love song. I think this adagio is the best part in Mahler symphonies.

The 1st one, I love it, a famous kids song is originated from first

Also great, the 6th and 4th.
 
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