Hi andrew-flattered at your recommendation :)
Just a thought or two from my background in audio-Bose systems and similar derive their ‘signature sound’ by ‘enhancing’ sound (or sweetening in the vernacular of the audiophile) beyond the original intended ‘mix’ or fidelity of the original recording. while this may be helpful for degraded or sub-par recordings (e.g. low-res mp3s, or cassette tapes), it is not a true representation of the original recording.
I explain this to my audio students as the “Radio Shack smile” syndrome-The improper use of system equalization, which may be analogous in concept to steroid use in bodybuilding…
While a student in college, one of my audio professors had told me the joke that on a visit to a home electronics store, he was approached by an over-zealous salesman, who was very intent on selling him a home theatre system.
The salesman was so eager to show him how ‘good’ the system was, that he proceeded to ‘crank up’ the volume to the point of ear thumping (and ear-covering).
The salesman then proceeded to ‘shout’ at my prof, above the din of the muzak, pointing out the ‘extra’ features on the unit; in particular, the system had a graphic equalizer-that section of a home stereo that has a bay of vertical sliders labeled with frequencies from bass (low) up through to treble.
Long story short-the equalizer was set in such a way that the sliders made a ‘smile shape’-that is, the low and high sliders were pushed all the way up and as you went toward the middle section (midrange) the sliders formed a shape of a smile. The salesman insisted that this was needed to “really hear the sound”.
My professor simply shrugged and quietly replied to salesman ”...think I’ll pass on that Radio Shack Smile.”