accuracy or beauty


Nice strawman argument in the video there. Why can't something be accurate and pleasurable to hear? There have been plenty of blind listening tests that show a strong correlation between listener preference and a reasonably flat frequency response on and off-axis(anechoic). Yet, we go round and round in circles.

If we assume an acoustically perfect room i.e. the room doesn't color the sound in any way:

With an "accurate" speaker chain, you hear the sound that the artist and the recording engineer thought sounded good.
With a "beautiful" speaker chain, you hear the sound that the product manufacturer thought sounded good.

Both of the above observations are subject to the caveat of Dr. Toole's "Circle of Confusion" that exists in the recording and playback industry.

Something designed to sound neutral (based on measurable criteria) can sound great, but something designed to sound great (as he says in the video himself, he may like an added harmonic distortion at the cost of measurements) as the primary objective can no longer claim to be neutral.

The choice is yours, but it is misleading to position this as an either or. If your taste in music genres is vast, and given the EQ choices available today, I see no compelling reason to start with speakers that don't measure reasonably flat.
 
So a accurate DAC for movies will be better??

Sorry, no practical experience with DAC's. Either for stereo or multi-channel.

IMO, if you are looking to make a difference to SQ, your efforts should be focused on the room first. If the room is alright acoustically, then an upgrade on your speakers. I'd be personally wary of other components, with the exception of room correction software on your pre-amp/AVR, making a significant difference to SQ.
 
I personally dont believe this is a this or that decision, as a musical sounding piece without having all the subtle nuances which make it enjoyable is as underwhelming as getting all the details in a boring presentation .

And am sure we all have our own concoction of Detail+Musicality in our mind based on our reference as well as our budget.

The reference is important as and eg sometimes you enjoy a piece of music a lot..then hear it with a lot more details and then going back to your earlier state will less details is very difficult ! it could be something as simple as the long decay of a bell or the deep bass of a kickdrum which comes up in a more detailed setup.

so I would always say both but with different degrees of combination.
 
A big complication is the assumption that everything in audio technology that contributes to accuracy can be measured and understood in absolute terms.

The usual presumption is the following :

Accuracy camp : Gear that is designed purely around some specifications. As long as you meet those measurements, those gear are supposed to be accurate.

Subjective camp : Gear that goes beyond specs or deviate from specs. These are usually build around their capability to stimulate the same emotions that you experience when you listen to live unamplified music.

My take is that these things are not absolutes. There is a balance that needs to be made with choices in gear and setup so that it satisfies the listener. So it crosses into the realm of art as well.
 
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