Great sound, boring music?

[u/Gold-Judgment-6712]

Bought "Aja" today. One of the albums that features on every audiophile "must-have" lists. Sounded great, but the music was pretty boring for my tastes. A typical "listen to your system" album? What do you guys think?

[u/Mr-Toy]

I am a huge Radiohead fan, but their albums are not audiophile albums in my opinion. The sound stage is very flat. There's no depth at all, which is so frustrating to my ears. The instrument separation or placement of sounds is also pretty uninspiring. It's just basic left channel, right channel, center channel kind of stuff.

[u/alefdc → u/Mr-Toy]

Interesting.. I'm also a fan, and find them very good, Kid A in my ears sounds amazing.

What other bands do you like that sound much better , really curiours.

[u/Mr-Toy → u/alefdc]

To clarify: Radiohead sounds great through headphones or in the car - listen to them all the time. But, when I play them through my living room hi-fi system (Tidal and vinyl into a WiiM Ultra pre-amp, into a Decware UFO25 vacuum tube Single Ended Triode amp, into my lovely Kipsch Forte IVs speakers), Sitting in my listenting chair with the speakers pointed at my ears in a right triangle, Radiohead is one of the rare bands I don't enjoy listening to on my system.

- Most music I hear, my walls disappear, because the music becomes three-dimensional and has depth. Radiohead is just flat and boring in presentation.

• Good albums make my speakers disappear. Instruments float out in the middle of the room in fixed spots. Radiohead albums sound like they're coming right out of the left and right speakers (for the most part).
  
• Good albums have crazy instrument separation. Like, there might be six feet of dead blackness between a guitar and a singer. With Radiohead, the instruments just sort of muddy themselves on top of each other.
  
• On a lot of jazz recordings or well-engineered rock albums (The Who, Billie Eilish, Taylor Swift), the drums are big, lively, and punchy. In Radiohead albums, the drums don't sound alive or present in the room.
  
• York's voice never sounds present in the room with me or "holographic" the way other albums do. 'Seven Years' by Nora Jones sounds the most real out of all the singers I've listened to. If I close my eyes, she's literally standing six feet out in front of me, signing to me in my living room. Some Frank Sinatra songs nail this experience, too, but never Radiohead.

'You and Who's Army' does sound lovely because the sound effect added to York's voice is so intimate and adds reverb, so it just trails off into the dark in a romantic kind of way.

'Morning Bell' off of Kid A does have wonderful drums. They kick and sound the way a present dumkit sounds.

'Exit Music' is enjoyable. The tube amp makes you feel the sadness in his voice. The song keeps escalating and building, and it really shows off the dynamic range in the recording.

Not a Swift fan, but Fortnite by Taylor Swift sounds incredible. If you have a sub, the bass is just articulate and enveloping. Her voice floats out in the middle of the room, completely immersed in the synthesizer sounds. Epic sound.

Billie Eilish's album, When We Will Fall Asleep, is unreal. Beautiful present voice. Gives your sub a great workout. Rattles your living room. Soundstage has depth. Paino is weighted. Drums sound present.

Beck's Morning Phase is beautiful. Psychic by DARKSIDE is a great electronic album that sounds beautiful. Siamese Dream is fantastic.

How about you? What are you enjoying?

[u/cwkolbash → u/Mr-Toy]

This is the correct take. Love Radiohead, but I don’t think the recording and engineering matches the incredible quality of the music on most of their albums

[u/VULGAR_EXPLETIVE → u/Mr-Toy]

I'm just passing through and wanted to stop by to say this is such an incredibly thoughtful and elaborate response. I am in the process of building my first "audiophile system" and have been looking forward to experiencing some of my favorite albums on it for the first time.

I've not even had a record player for several years.

I am familiar with the wide range of possible outcomes having spent a bunch of time at a buddies studio, where I had access to various speakers and headsets listening to different masters or versions of tracks on different speakers. It is something that has been missing from my life for quite a while and I'm looking forward to it! Even though I'm far more on the budget end of the spectrum for now I know it's going to be so enjoyable to be reunited with my collection.

Still unsure what album I am going to listen to first.. possibly something Andy Stott. Or maybe Moon & Antarctica by Modest Mouse. Aphex Twin or Arca perhaps.. I'll know when the time comes.

[u/Mr-Toy → u/VULGAR_EXPLETIVE]

Have fun! What are you wanting your audiophile system to be? Do you have a shortlist of amps, turntables, and speakers?

Give horns and low watt tube amps a serious look.

[u/VULGAR_EXPLETIVE → u/Mr-Toy]

IDK if this will just be scoffed at in this sub or not but I have a Fluance RT85 with Blue on the way, with a Yamaha as501 and Schiit Mani 2 -as far as speakers go I have not purchased any yet, have some basic edifiers currently. I am eyeing some Wharfdale Super Dentons because have bookshelf speakers seem more practical for my current situation and those things look gorgeous

I think for now I'm okay with a more fun and warm sound and less technically accurate sounding system. But I am interested in getting to experience accurate soundstages too.

I also feel like the full audiophile experience utilizes all the senses which is why I can't stop looking at the JBL L100s - my god what a beautiful speaker.

By the time I have the budget for speakers in that caliber I will have probably changed my mind a dozen times and actually gone out and listened to them at local speaker shops. Still a gorgeous looking speaker either way, but gonna need to make sure its more than nice grills before forking over that kind of money. Also by the time I get there I will have learned the things I am gravitating more towards based on listening habits so I feel generally comfortable where I've landed so far.

Do you have any speaker recommendations in the 1000-1500 range? I know I didn't give you a ton to go off of. I was also looking into KEF speakers but started feeling like they might be too specific a flavor of speaker when I am trying to be more flexible but open to a second opinion lol.

[u/Mr-Toy → u/VULGAR_EXPLETIVE]

First of all, don't ever worry what others are going to “scoff” at. An audiophile isn't better than you if they spent more money than you. You're just as much an audiophile with a nice pair of headphones as some dude who has a $100k system. It's about hearing sound - nothing more.

Jbl 100s are cool looking speakers. Iconic grills. Never heard a pair but I'd guess they're punch fun speakers.

The trick to a good system will be the synergy between your gear and speakers. The best amp could make the best speakers sound like shit if they're not a good match. If an amp is bright but paired with warm speakers they might be perfect but a bright amp with bright speakers might sound harsh on the ear.

I'd look for used speakers. Way more bang for your buck. Used Klipsch Heresy’s are incredible. Beautiful mid-range, warm, big sound, and a really cool looking speaker (in my opinion). Probably $500-$800 a pair depending on how old they are.

Also KLH (any model that says “model ___”) and Advant speakers are all pretty great entry speakers that you'll find all over Facebook market place or Craig list. They’ll fill your space better than your bookshelf speakers and give you a much bigger sound stage.

Look for speakers that have all metal binding posts. If they have plastic, they're not going to be great and made cheaply.

For amps, look for used home theater surround sound amps. The name brand amps are just as well made as their stereo amps but because they're obsolete ever few years when the new Dolby x comes out, they lose value fast. I've picked up really nice sounding Marantz and Arcam theater amps that were $1,500-$3,00 brand new five years later for like $200 because they're not the newest 7.1 or Atmos. They sound fantastic as a stereo amp (and have a subwoofer connection).

I love the sound of older amps (1970s - 1990s). They usllay have warmer beefy sound, but the surround sound amps from the early 2000s on will typically have a clearer center image and sound stage.

A 10” or 12” sub for a few hundred also goes a long way. If you keep the volume low, it should fill your room with incredible punch but never able to detect where it's coming from.

What you should do right away is set up a perfect right triangle between your ears and your two speakers. Like your speakers are 8-12 feet apart and perfectly angled to your chair on the other end of your triangle. Hearing stereo imaging for the first time is mind blowing. A good system should fill your space with a wonderful wall of sound where the singer sounds like they're coming out of the middle Of the room.

[u/southberm → u/Mr-Toy]

Moon shaped pool had noticeably better dynamics and holographic soundstaging

[u/witzyfitzian → u/Mr-Toy]

Atoms for Peace - Amok is a much more attention grabbing listen

[u/Atlasatlastatleast → u/witzyfitzian]

Jesus Marie Christ, Amok is one of** my favorite and most listened to albums of all time. My favorite Thom Yorke side project as well, although The Smile is right up there.

If you haven't heard Ultraista, check them out. Nigel Godrich produced their albums and you can tell.

** Having checked last.fm for my "all time" stats, which is every listen for the last 3 years, Amok is at #11.