Listening priorities

[jazzluvva]

Hi all,
I put this in General Audio cos it seemed appropriate.
Over the last couple of days , I've been listening to a variety of speakers ( Devore and Harbeth) , probably just scratching an itch ( although the Devores were WOW). I spend a few hours with both the O96 and the Gibbon X ( same sources and amps). They were so different in presentation that I got curious as to what I actually like , and what others like to listen for.
The O96 presented in the slightly more diffuse fashion , gorgeous mid range and plenty of wallop at bottom end. But didn't seem to image precisely. The Gibbons on the other hand imaged incredibly well. Not saying one better than other , just different. If I had to be simplistic , I'd say the O96's sounded like music without the hifi component ( I'm guessing that's the wide baffle).
SO I started to wonder which presentation I actually preferred.
My question- when you listen to gear , what do we actually listen for? Do we listen to the music , or are we listening FOR hifi artefacts like imaging, soundstaging etc? Just curious really- I don't think Ive ever asked myself that question before.
Cheers
Kevin

[sircharles]

I prefer a presentation where the music is all around me. Makes me feel as though i'm involved with the band or seated at the very front row. So for me i would probably like the 096. I recently listened to the Harbeth 40.2 at Fidelis AV in NH and also really liked the way the conveyed the music.. Like most things in life, its all personal taste and preferences.....or is it price? I forget which one .

[Cohibaman]

For me, it’s all about how the speaker reproduces human voice. If that isn’t right, nothing will be. Next is the upper frequencies. I don’t worry too much if a speaker can’t reproduce the really low frequencies since a sub (or a pair of subs) can easily rectify that. Then, finally I look for soundstage. When I close my eyes, it should’t sound like the music is coming from a pair of boxes in front of me. I don’t want to be able to point to the speakers.

[jzzmusician]

This is a good question and one I hope will garner a lot of responses.

My first thought is this;

A typical jazz quartet will, from the audience perspective, be from left to right, piano, bass, drums. The horn player will generally be in front of the other three.

When I think about the sound, I don't hear the piano as, "right there," or the drummer as "right over there." I hear it more as the piano is in that area, the drummer in this area and the bass player is in between. The soloist, generally being in or near the center has a more localized, but at the the same time overriding sound.

When I listen to music at home, I'm okay if the piano is "over there," as opposed to a pinpoint, "right there." It's the same with the other instruments and voices. The sound from each musician originates from one place, but goes everywhere.

I'm not sure I'm making sense, but you get the idea. At the end of the day, if the speakers sound like music, like you want more, then they might be more satisfying that the ones with pinpoint imaging.

Thanks for posting,

Bob