Budget repalcement amp for classical - advice please

I'm not sure if you know any professional classical musicians.  They would, probably as one, shun either your views or you on the back of this alone.  Elitist, mind-empyting snobbery.  

At last! Some refreshing honesty from the classical music crowd for once. (It can't be that easy to express your superiority in plain words, in public any more.)

Can't say I entirely agree, but I am glad one of you came clean about what you really think

You really aren't very nice are you?  I'm probably more qualified and experienced to talk about these issues than you are, but I'm not as arrogant so I won't be pushing it down your throat.

All I will say is that attitudes such as those displayed in your posts nicely encapsulate all that is wrong with a small minority of the classical fraternity.  Snobbery has nothing to do with musical communication and it puts people off who might be trying to explore this great canon of music for the first time. 

Have you ever thought that maybe you might have made a complete hash of assembling your own system?

Well said.  Pretty much every professional classical musician I have met or worked with would shun those views.

I certainly don't have this view, and it probably has a lot to do with putting people off......I grew up surrounded by classical music, as it was all that was played at home. I never really gave it much thought, and at times worry that when I admit to liking it, assumptions will be made as to the sort of person I am.

Of course this was after I had bought my LPs and they'd taken my cash!

At school we once had a trip to see a performance by the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. After our arrival at the venue we had to get back in our minibus and wait. The teachers had been informed that we were to go in last of all, after the rest of the audience, and also - after the end of the concert - we were to wait until after everyone else had left before we were allowed to move.  All of our parents had paid for the tickets - and we had dressed smartly - but because we were teenagers I guess it was assumed we might upset their normal crowd. We were also not to get any refreshments during intervals and the teachers were told to accompany anyone who had to visit the toilets!

When we eventually got seated we were terrified of everyone nearby glaring at us.  On reflection now I suppose they were terrified that we were going to run amock and rip up seats (or whatever else the good concert-goers of Bournemouth imagined teenagers would do).

We were made to feel like we were on day-release from a prison! That was my first experience of going to a classical music performance. The music was fantastic. The sociology lesson was illuminating.

Not good.....I suppose in those days, we were to be seen, but not heard. 

That's just nonsense!  Classical music isn't "more worthy" than any other type of music it's just different.

You may not care but you do come over as being very arrogant!

Chris

.....This was an Interesting thread....!

I think the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra were right to treat Chebby and and his young contemporaries with caution. At a concert you need silence and concentration for the musicians and audience alike.

'Man hands on misery to man, it deepens like a coastal shelf, get out as early as you can, and don't have any kids yourself'. For this reason, popcorn and cola are not allowed into the auditorium.

Also, I'm surprised that you find it startling that someone might think classical music is elitist and a minority affair. Surely, it is no different in that way to having an interst in poetry,drama,philosophy, world music or Colchester United - all of which fall into the minority.  Personally, I didn't have any childhood experiences or it, nor do I know any musicians. I came to it around the mid-twenties through a boredom with contemporary music and life in general. It oftered a much greater intellectual challenge and that was what I was looking for. Once bitten, forever smitten, unlike other genres. It's the same with writers, once you explore your interests and start to read books with ideas rather than just stories you find it hard to take the view that all art is equal.

I find myself completely agreeing with you about how classical music should sound (in particular violins), and even the way it can be perceived as more complex and often hits you on a more emotional level; but not that it should only be the domain of a few, and kept elite.

Nigel Kennedy wanted to explode this perception and so took a very no-nonsense approach, which expressed itself in the way he looked......and he wasn't too shabby on the violin.

My offer of help is there if you want it, but I could be the only one if you alienate everyone else.

To return to the question in the OP:

I have Marantz PM6400, CD6400 and Kef Q500s.  This reproduces all types of classical music perfectly satisfactorily.  The whole set up (with headphones) cost less then £2000 and whilst I'm sure I could get improved performance if I spent more I don't think I need to.  I would recommend listening to this combination as I chose it sepcifically for classical music.

Chris

Interestng thread indeed...but have to agree with Chris, in principle, as my rig is different (see sig line below) and the reprodcution of classical music on this is stunning (as is jazz)...even if I say so myself.  Could pay much more but I am not sure that I would reap proportional benefits given my personal arrangements location-wise.

Regards

Balders

Can you tell why this system is ok for classical and his sound characteristics? Thanks.