Do you prefer a "you are there" or a "they are here" type of system experience?

Generally speaking, do you prefer your system present a "you are there" type of experience or a "they are here" experience regarding your music collection and listening habits?

Over the Christmas holidays I had pleasure of demoing a pair of B&W 804Ds at the local dealer. Although out of my price range, I was initially impressed at the level of clarity and detail the speakers expressed. It was very representative of live music and the salesman agreed that the B&Ws came the closest to portraying a live music setting, the type of "you are there" experience akin to being in the front row of a concert. Very fast, dynamic and detailed.

In contrast, the Sonus Faber Olympia III's right next to it had an equally satisfying but different tonal characteristic. It was more organic, smoother, and richer...perhaps even slower but only in comparison to the B&Ws next to it. Rather than provide the "you are there" type of excitement the B&W's had, the Fabers instead ditched the live setting experience to provide me with a glimpse that the performers were right there in our demo room. Close your eyes and you'd swear Pink Floyd were playing for us.

Which type of sound characteristic do you enjoy more with your system? Do the terms "bright," "warm," etc also have an impact in the type of sound that I experienced?

 

There's many variables that affect the outcome IMO, the particular recording being a major one.

Speaker placement can also cause a wide variance in this regard. When speakers are placed well out in the room, they can sound completely different from placement near a wall.

I find that speakers tend to give either a "front row" experience or the impression of sitting a few rows back. Many speakers also create an image where vocalists sound as though they're behind the band and instruments, which can sound far different from a live performance.

I'm finding that my tube amp produces a more 3D soundstage without the penalty of pushing vocalists to the back of the room. This is the sound I prefer. I wouldn't call it "here" or "there."

 

I prefer "you are there" -- and by that I mean that you are transported to the original room and ambient space of the original recording and moment of performance -- the "there" being the key thing; but to me that's more a matter of the recording than the repro gear. A lot of older recordings, cut live in great live rooms (or even sometimes in crummy live rooms -- like the mail room at Contemporary) without a lot of isolation, where you can hear the sound bouncing around the original recording space: I love that. I love hearing that upfront, drier, more tactile kind of close recording sometimes too. But there's something special to me about recordings that transport you to the space and moment.

 

Even though you wrote two separate paragraphs to explain what you mean by "you are there" and "they are here" I have no idea what you're talking about, and I wonder if you do either. Sales pitch gobbledygook. In fact, you could just reverse the paragraphs and it wouldn't make any difference.

 

I don't understand the OP's distinctions either, but I love chervokas' post!

 

For classical and jazz, I like being there. For rock and stuff, I like it when the are here.

 

I prefer a 'I am here and they are there' experience.

Otherwise, it means that the hallucinations have started up again.

 

In my experience speakers and systems that seem to produce a 3D performer in the room with you do so only in a narrow sweet spot at the cost of a realistic soundstage. They seem very hifi to me rather than a normal musical experience. If a musician were actually standing there the difference would be quite apparent.

In a typical modern pop recording of course there is no soundstage so it might be enjoyable for those. But the system wouldn't distinguish recordings with natural ambiance with those that don't. OTOH a more accurate system will distinguish between the recordings with ambiance info and those that don't have it. IIRC Fremer made some comment about a Sonus Faber speaker along the lines that it was beautiful to listen to but couldn't be used as a reviewing tool.

 

Neither, I like the "I'm listening to music on my stereo" experience.

 

I know you're being facetious, or at least I think you are, but to step back or a minute, this is exactly the opposite of the experience I'm looking for, and it's why I became an audiophile -- so I don't think when I'm listen to my stereo: "I'm listening to a stereo." I want the speakers to disappear as an apparent sound source, I want natural timbres and unconstrained dynamics; I want the listening space to be so well controlled there's no boominess or overhand or image destroying flutter echo; I want that elusive "palpable presence," at least with recordings that deliver it; I want mechanical and electrical noise to be inaudible and microdynamics of performance to be lifelike. If I'm listening to my hifi rig and thinking "I'm listening to music on my stereo," something's wrong.

 

I want the 'they are here" system. I just wish I could afford it. I want to feel like I can reach out and grab the singer.

 

'You are there', greatly comes from the recording, of course. I prefer live recordings recorded in a place, and that one can hear they are recorded in a place.
If I listen to a choir recorded in a church, I want to hear the ambience from that church. Unfortunately much live recordings are too dry, with too many supporting mics, for my taste. But it´s nice when one finds those recordings that stands out, where one can hear the room. That will mean that much of the ambience and sound will come from behind the speakers.
I find that a in phase reflection from the ceiling will enhance this ambience.

 

What if I never wasn't there? How can I tell?

 

What if it's an 'I am there, but they are here' sound? Do we then just miss each other?
.

 

I prefer whatever the engineers and artists intended for me to hear.

 

I think one will hear that 'they cannot be here', without really having been in that place. Dropbox - Froh.VM3-5D.wav

 

I hear the "they are here" sound and like it but it could sound like "you are there" if i wasn't staring at my wall, i need visuals to be 100% "there". On some live recordings it sounds like "i was there, but they might be here now" kind of thing.

 

I was there, but so were they, and they asked me what the hell I was doing there.
.

 

next time don't lose the wrist band. that's it- wear a wristband in the stereo room and / or wait in line and to be checked by security.

 

You can chase the hypothetical ideal and I agree some occasionally approximate it but
at the end of the day you are actually listening to recorded music on your stereo.

That being said I have nothing against pursuing the ideal of reproducing the actual event as closely as possible.
I have indulged in the pursuit myself over the years but it sure does get expensive.

 

I don't think its "sales pitch" at all. It was the impression I got after listening to both speakers in the same system with the same music. One speaker was very lively and dynamic and reminiscent of being at a concert almost, whereas the other was cleaner and not as gritty, but more polished like a studio recording (which is weird because it was the same recording, just on two different sets of speakers).

 

You don't have to spend a fortune. You can get a long way there by setting up a triangular speaker listening system and sitting in the sweet spot. Experiment with distance and toe in and speaker height. Give it a try.

 

I prefer the "I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together" experience.

 

Oh, I did that years ago. Still not there.

 

I must not be the only guy who is nuts....found a cable review over on Cableasylum regarding an AQ Colorado cable from a Mr. readargos in which the review says...

"With Colorado, the focus seems to be on the instruments, with an aural, but less palpable, space -- a they-are-here perspective."

I know his opinion is about cables and mine about speakers -- an apples to oranges comparison -- but we must be from the same universe...