It is quite possible. What is the music you mostly listen to? Probably a full 80% of music I listen to is unamplified sonatas, concertos and such. Probably 2% of all music has vocals in it. If the music you listen to is mostly Rock, say, with 98% being vocal music, then it is quite possible this provides a different perspective entirely.
This isn't a particularly useful reply, you are bypassing the interesting things I say (with regards to a convivial discussion) and focussing on less interesting things. I said this was speculation on my part, I can only repeat it so many times. Can you provide this information as an excerpt from Toole, then we will have more to discuss:
"Size of room, level of soundproofing, distance from loudspeakers and so on. This may explain where some of the difference lies."
I would imagine types of music used would be of not insignificant importance too.
Yes, I enjoy it fine. No need to justify it to you or your preference to me, but I think there is something broader at play. I am willing to be wrong, but I am really scouting for information that may make sense of what I am hearing. I don't believe I am hearing it in isolation, but it may be part of a trend.
I'm engaging in a thought experiment/discussion. I should know better than floating such things on ASR, as they seem to go down like a lead balloon. Some people have a fantastic ability to bypass the main point and head straight to minor side points.
The main points of my OP are 1st paragraph and paragraph starting "can anyone offer".
Science, it seems, is not always considered as being the processes that lead up to new discovery and something becoming an established fact, rather than just the fact itself. I don't suggest anything so grand will come of what I am trying to figure out here, by any means, but I do feel there is sometimes a stark lack of imagination for what could be on this forum and it can make fruitful discussion like wading through treacle.
Cheers, Digby (English idiom dispenser).