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Scale, for one thing

Most recordings don't have the dynamics of live music nor can most systems reproduce the explosive dynamics of the real thing. Then there's the question of scale. Scale is a quality that's rarely discussed by audiophiles; we've become so accustomed to smaller than lifesize reproduction that we hardly even notice how puny most high end sound is. Real instruments are loud and, just as important, move a lot of air. An orchestra at full roar is almost a physical assault. A unamplified kick drum heard close to the stage can be felt in the chest as much as its heard in the ears. Most reproduced music - even from very big speakers - is little more than a miniature version of the original. The only audio system I've ever heard that came close to reproducing music with realistic scale was the Siemens Bionor Klangfilm speakers that were demonstrated at a Stereophile show in New York a few years ago. Of course each of those speakers is the size of a garage door and would completely overwhelm any room smaller than a movie theater so they're hardly a practical solution. The vast majority of audiophiles must content themselves with what amounts to a scale model of the real thing; the best most of us can do is choose whether we want an S or HO or Z scale version of reality and how much detail our little simulations will have.



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