Toole commented in a prior thread about violins sounding poor in recordings. You might find it interesting. He is referring to B&W speakers btw.
Genelec on audio science
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Thanks @RobL for finding this. Here's what Toole wrote:
"I agree that close mic'ed recordings can be problems, and if they are, it is an indication of differing tastes (or hearing performance) between the recording staff and the listener, or, equally likely, monitoring through spectrally colored loudspeakers - compensating errors. Excessive brightness may also be the result of non-optimum mic placement. This happens in concert performances with elevated mics picking up more high frequencies from violins than is heard in the audience. There is a loudspeaker that is preferred for "classical" recordings by some experienced recording engineers - it has a sagging frequency response in the upper midrange/lower treble and makes the strings sound more natural. This is a case of the monitor loudspeaker being deliberately incorporated into the recording - dumb. Listeners will not hear what they heard unless they have the same idiosyncratic loudspeakers."
Translation: For classical music recordings mastered on B&W loudspeakers, "listeners will not hear what the [mastering engineers] heard unless they also have B&W loudspeakers."