[GrantsV]

We were sat just one row back from stage in a philharmonic hall. What an experience!

1) Despite being so close, the overall volume was very low. You could hear people cough. After life experiencing the normal high decibel rate of pubs/clubs/gigs it came as a big surprise.

2) Next thing that struck me was the extreme high notes had no hint of harshness, they were silky smooth but with absolute clarity. In comparison, the high end on my various decent monitoring systems over the years had artifically hyped highs as standard. The real sound was totally clear, but with a super smooth top end. You could not reproduce this by simply rolling off the highs on your monitoring because the sound would become dull as a result. The key difference I would imagine being harmonic richness as opposed to just boosting high khz. I can imagine a tube hifi amplifier could be really useful in giving clarity and presence to a recording, without adding unnatural highs.

3) Although the sound was drenched in the halls reverb, it was difficult to pick out the reverb even when the playing stopped. The sound of the instrument and reverb were as one, creating what can best be described as a sustain effect.

4) Stereo imaging. While you could pinpoint the direction, the sound of an individual instrument still filled the sound spectrum. It was never as drastic as panning a speaker all the way 100%, even when a musician was at a full 90 degree angle to me.

All the best,
GrantsV