MusicDirector,
In spirit, I agree with your principle idea. If a system sounds good with rock, then it should also sound good with just about every other genre of music. The only problem I've found is that this notion rarely plays out in the real world. To expand a bit on what I mean, here are a couple "for examples":
Years ago, I used to run a pair of Martin Logan Vantages. One day, I invited a couple musician buddies over for a listen. I kicked things off by playing the usual audiophile music. You know, the kinda little girl and their guitar type songs that are beaten into your skull at trade shows. Not so surprisingly, my buddies oo'd and ahh'd over how great the sound was. Then, as the night wore on, I decided to bring out the good stuff. Tool. Led Zepp. Killswitch Engage. I think it took the group all of 5 seconds to point out how quickly the Vantages fell apart when playing back this kinda music. Their articulation and air couldn't help them with this kinda music. Rock needs weight and mid-bass punch - things that the Vantages didn't (or don't) have. Ye who are about to rock? Eh.... maybe not.
Funnily enough, I ended up selling the Vantages to a guy who listened predominantly to classical, acoustic, and jazz music. He was in love, especially when I paired them with my low-powered tube gear. To me, the Vantages were a classic example of speakers that could excel with the audiophile stuff, yet struggle when playing back other popular genres of music.
While I offer up the Vantages as an example, they're not the only ones that suffer from this juxtaposition. In fact, there are TONS of audiophile loudspeakers that can't rock as good as they can roll. Let's use the JBL Array, Klipsch RF-7 II, and the Polk Audio SDA SRS as an example. These speakers were practically MADE to rock out. They can move a sh!t tonne of air, their large radiating surface translates into the kinda presence that'll make you feel as though you're a breath away from the band, plus - they can get loud. Real loud. Now, take any one of those speakers and set them next to something from the likes of Magico, YG, Magnepan, MBL, Spendor, etc etc.. and what do you think will happen?
If you guessed: "The JBL, Klipsch, and Polk's will humble the living hell outta those audiophile-approved brands with real world music", then you'd be correct. While I'm sure there are now a number of Magico, YG, Maggie, MBL, and Spendor owners who are itching to jump in to vehemently defend their speakers ability to "rock", the bottom line is that they won't be able do it like the aforementioned transducers can. On the flip side however, if you were to throw some classical and jazz into the mix - where nuance, tonal balance, and articulation rules the day, the reverse becomes true. That's when the Klipsch, JBL, and Polks will be put back into their respective places.
Anyway, I realize that my post has now begun to encroach the subject of: How do we define what's good, better, or best? It's a tough variable to nail down. Especially in a hobby that's so personal in nature. Standards and perceptions will vary significantly from one person to another. So having said that, all I can do is post what I've experienced thus far in my audio travels. I've heard systems that are only palatable when playing back Hi-Fi music, and I've also heard systems that sound pretty good with just about anything. The thing is though, I'm not after "good" sound. I want to hear "great" sound. Isn't that what this whole thing is all about!?
And therein lies the challenge. I've come to find that building a system that can sound *truly* exceptional with every genre of music is tough. Why? Because it means building a system that possess no attention-drawing weaknesses. Personally, I think this is a way more difficult task than building a system that caters to only a couple genres of music - especially if those genres are chalk full of high quality recordings. After all, when the parameters you are working with are less broad and more focused, it becomes easier to find a proper solution.
Or at least, that's my take on the subject. Cheers.
In spirit, I agree with your principle idea. If a system sounds good with rock, then it should also sound good with just about every other genre of music. The only problem I've found is that this notion rarely plays out in the real world. To expand a bit on what I mean, here are a couple "for examples":
Years ago, I used to run a pair of Martin Logan Vantages. One day, I invited a couple musician buddies over for a listen. I kicked things off by playing the usual audiophile music. You know, the kinda little girl and their guitar type songs that are beaten into your skull at trade shows. Not so surprisingly, my buddies oo'd and ahh'd over how great the sound was. Then, as the night wore on, I decided to bring out the good stuff. Tool. Led Zepp. Killswitch Engage. I think it took the group all of 5 seconds to point out how quickly the Vantages fell apart when playing back this kinda music. Their articulation and air couldn't help them with this kinda music. Rock needs weight and mid-bass punch - things that the Vantages didn't (or don't) have. Ye who are about to rock? Eh.... maybe not.
Funnily enough, I ended up selling the Vantages to a guy who listened predominantly to classical, acoustic, and jazz music. He was in love, especially when I paired them with my low-powered tube gear. To me, the Vantages were a classic example of speakers that could excel with the audiophile stuff, yet struggle when playing back other popular genres of music.
While I offer up the Vantages as an example, they're not the only ones that suffer from this juxtaposition. In fact, there are TONS of audiophile loudspeakers that can't rock as good as they can roll. Let's use the JBL Array, Klipsch RF-7 II, and the Polk Audio SDA SRS as an example. These speakers were practically MADE to rock out. They can move a sh!t tonne of air, their large radiating surface translates into the kinda presence that'll make you feel as though you're a breath away from the band, plus - they can get loud. Real loud. Now, take any one of those speakers and set them next to something from the likes of Magico, YG, Magnepan, MBL, Spendor, etc etc.. and what do you think will happen?
If you guessed: "The JBL, Klipsch, and Polk's will humble the living hell outta those audiophile-approved brands with real world music", then you'd be correct. While I'm sure there are now a number of Magico, YG, Maggie, MBL, and Spendor owners who are itching to jump in to vehemently defend their speakers ability to "rock", the bottom line is that they won't be able do it like the aforementioned transducers can. On the flip side however, if you were to throw some classical and jazz into the mix - where nuance, tonal balance, and articulation rules the day, the reverse becomes true. That's when the Klipsch, JBL, and Polks will be put back into their respective places.
Anyway, I realize that my post has now begun to encroach the subject of: How do we define what's good, better, or best? It's a tough variable to nail down. Especially in a hobby that's so personal in nature. Standards and perceptions will vary significantly from one person to another. So having said that, all I can do is post what I've experienced thus far in my audio travels. I've heard systems that are only palatable when playing back Hi-Fi music, and I've also heard systems that sound pretty good with just about anything. The thing is though, I'm not after "good" sound. I want to hear "great" sound. Isn't that what this whole thing is all about!?
And therein lies the challenge. I've come to find that building a system that can sound *truly* exceptional with every genre of music is tough. Why? Because it means building a system that possess no attention-drawing weaknesses. Personally, I think this is a way more difficult task than building a system that caters to only a couple genres of music - especially if those genres are chalk full of high quality recordings. After all, when the parameters you are working with are less broad and more focused, it becomes easier to find a proper solution.
Or at least, that's my take on the subject. Cheers.
