dave weil wrote:

On Mon, 07 Mar 2005 16:12:24 -0500, Howard Ferstler
wrote:

I'd argue that almost every Dire Straits album has this sort of
presentation. If you close your eyes, you could imagine them on stage.
I daresay that The Eagles have the same sort of presentation as well.

Understand that these are two groups that I have
acknowledged have produced some fine-sounding recordings.
Most of the rest, however, make no attempt to mimic a
live-music situation. And as I noted, most of the rest
really do not attempt to sound like a live-music situation
even when performing live. And, no, I am not joking.

You simply don't know what you're talking about, because you have no
experience with anything other than about .0000025% of all "rock
recordings".

And you are looking to justify your obsession with upscale
audio, even though upscale audio systems are simply not
needed to listen to most rock music. Mid-fi does the job
just fine.

It's sort of like your classical live concert going experience, which
is virtually nil. Heck, I've been to more classical concerts in the
past 6 months than you've gone to in the last decade.

Pick on the messenger, Dave. That is your style, and it has
been your style for quite some time. Rather than debate
issues, you pick on me and point out my supposed
inadequacies. However, whatever you may think, my publishers
liked what I do and continue to like what I do when it comes
to reviewing recordings. I will also point out that a number
of reviewers gave those record-review books very positive in
assorted magazine writeups.

Look, rock concerts are electronically amplified. There is
no way a home audio system can "accurately" reproduce music
that was not accurately reproduced at a live concert to
begin with. The stuff is electronic from stem to stern, and
just about all rock recordings are designed to be "ends in
themselves," rather than simulations of live performances.
But, as I said before, even those live performances are not
really live. They are electronically amplified, with all
sorts of concurrent distortions piling on.

And, Dave (trust me on this), there are musicians out there
who go to and participate in live music situations all the
time, and they have not a clue what an audio system is
supposed to do when they listen to recordings. If they fail,
how can you claim to have the golden-ear answer just because
you attend lots of live performances. You also have to know
something, Dave.

As for you, well, you have this belief in super wires and
super amps, and probably super CD players, and that tells me
that, your concert concert-hall goings notwithstanding, you
do not have any kind of solid grasp of what you are
listening to on your audio system. Period.

Howard Ferstler