Ever heard speakers which sound like live music?

BIG front loaded Horns or Big Panel speakers are the only types that have conveyed any realism.

Just got some Magnepan MMG's myself

For me it has to be my Magnepans that have come closest to creating the illusion of listening to live music. Close, but not quite there. There are simply no speakers that can recreate the illusion of listening to a live symphony ochestra. It all depends on the type of music you are listening to. 

You could just look in the mirror hunnybun.

Yes mine    it is the reason I bought them !

I think if I was to blindfold an unsuspecting person and told them I was going to take them to a local small venue to hear a band play live then drive a short distance to my house and guide then through the door with a well recorded live recording already playing at realistic levels they would be fooled at least for a short period

With a good recording the wall behind the speakers disappears and is replaced with the acoustics of the venue that the music is being played in along with the performers, it is also possible to feel the music through my body and fingertips .

A bold claim perhaps but it is why I chose the equipment and speakers I have . It has always been my aim to have a HiFi system that is capable of doing a good impression of live music .

I will add that I don't listen at live levels all the time rarely in fact but the system can still give a good impression of a live performance at lower levels as well.

I hope I don't come across as a bit of a show off because I am not a wealthy person and I have worked hard and sacrificed other things to own the equipment I have , I am just passionate about music and go to many live performances and I wanted to have the same feeling that I get at a good live performance at home .

There is always room for improvement though

Without highjacking a curious thread, I would suggest one would need to listen to a speaker in a live venue environment for any real comparison. Room acoustics will have a very significant effect. Few of us therefore, could ever compare like with like.

best comparison would be to listen to non amplified (acoustic) live music...... otherwise all your doing in comparing your kit with whatever amplification/speakers they were using at the time...... Just a thought  

But to answer your question....... any speaker with Morel drive units.

I went to a foo fighters concert at the NEC 2007...... a little while later i got the Foo Fighters Everywhere but home DVD i played Stacked Actors because it was my favourite track they played at the NEC. I remember saying to my wife who didn't go to the concert **** me it's just like being at the concert and i wasn't exaggerating it evoked a very strong emotional reaction to what i experienced at the live gig. This it why it bemuses me when i see comments that MK speakers aren't considered good with music. I carn't argue with the emotional reaction i got when listening to the music  so if the reality is different it's lost on me because to me it was like being there and as i was there i have the perfect reference point.

I say that, although I am referring to recorded studio music. Live music is a little different, and I find that Ken's designs are very good at reproducing PA amplified live concerts. Having said that, they are quite a different presentation to a conventional hi-fi speaker, with a less recessed lower treble and midrange.

It'll be interesting to see if his new designs will be better musically. 

This is one of the major strengths of the RS6. Without doubt they come the closest I've heard, at the price, to a live recording. One of their biggest strengths - oddly enough - is they aren't quite as precise as others, but it's the raw, no holds barred sound, that mimics a live performance (not really, but the closest). 

To be honest, not sure that I'd want to... yes we're all striving for that bit more realism, but at a concert you don't get that stereo separation and

I've  rarely heard the clarity of my set up.

Mac

I understand what you mean but I suppose it depends on what type of venue and music you are talking about , most of the live performances that I go to are small intimate venues with good acoustics and top class musicians playing  and I am often sitting about the same distance from the musicians as I do from my speakers at home and believe me the sound is very very detailed and with my eyes closed it is very easy to place the musicians .

The main difference between live music an a HiFi system IMO is the way you actually feel the music and the vibrations from it .

Most HiFi systems just don't even begin to reproduce this but whether it is just by luck or my good judgement at choosing equipment or maybe PMC the company's  vast experience of recording and monitoring live music ( which is more likely ) my system does a very good impression of live music IMO,  and living in a detached house helps quite a lot too

I have to second the post by SteveR750 - I listed to a friends Linn system with the same Isobarik speakers. He played some female vocals, country music & the sense of depth & atmosphere was very much like listening to it live.

I take your point Electro and when I was typing this post I was thinking of a

particular concert I went to a few years ago... Sting at the Albert Hall and I couldn't wait to get out of there... it was terrible.. absolutely nothing like listening to his Cd's on my HiFi.

Then on the other hand, I went to see Kate Walsh in one of the rooms at the Festival Halls last year, a very small intimate venue.  Just her with a guitar, piano and a cellist... beautiful though it was, you still didn't get that almost 3D stereo separation effect that I love when listening to my HiFi.

Electro, on another subject; would you say the superb sound of your set up is mainly down to the PMC speakers, or the Electrocompaniet amps?

Cheers

Mac

A lot of good points made. My tuppence worth to the original question is no, not personally, but I think it would be possible depending on what kind of live music and what kind of venue it was played in. For many years I was a drummer in various rock bands, played countless gigs and did a reasonable amount of studio time. From having the bass players speaker bins behind or near my kit more times than was wise I have a certain level of hearing loss, particularly at the top end, however I do also have an appreciation of what 'proper' bass sounds (and more properly feels!) like, and no, unless you are using high powered amps and commercial rather than domestic type large speakers I don't believe you can replicate the sound from a loud rock (or whatever style you like - including orchestral) band in your living room (not that the neighbours would thank you if you did).

But can you get a good replication of lower level/smaller venue live sounds, semi-accoustic guitars, pianos and vocals etc? Yes, that should indeed be possible, although the average sized living room most people will be using to play those sounds in will cause its own issues in terms of authenticity...

Best system I heard was at the old audio t in Epsom, not sure what it was but as soon as I heard the price of the set up was 40,000 plus there didn't seem much point making notes. But it did sound like it was in the room in parts.

shame that shops gone the guy that worked in there had so much time for the customers, he would chat and chat and never made you feel like he was trying to just sell.i nearly always brought something when I poped in even if it was just some speaker wire or a new hdmi.