This is a good explanation as to why people select and prefer certain loudspeakers. I also notice a degree of sibilance in most vocal recordings (I think it's an almost unavoidable ear vs microphone thing). Also a kind of harmonic haze that follows the voice (production effects rather than distortion in the reproduction system).
Yes, it really depends on where an individual is coming from in terms of what he/she is looking for, and what their reference point is.
I’m always comparing to the sound of real sound sources because I’ve always found the difference between live and reproduced to be fascinating.
I used to (and still do occasionally) play some very well recorded single vocal tracks (some of which included members of my own family speaking) and have somebody stand in between the speakers where I perceived the vocalist to becoming from in the stereo image. And then I would have that person speak and go back-and-forth and compare the gestalt, General impressions, of a real human emitting sound from that spot versus the center image through the speakers.
It’s just so immediately revealing: what always leaves out to me is the mechanical/electronic/artificial nature of the reproduced sound, versus the distinctly softer, subtler, denser and especially organic
quality of the actual human voice - that specific sound you get emitting from the wet, damped material of the human throat, the chest resonance etc. That’s one reason why for me “ more organic” is a personal touchstone for a quality that I seek in reproduced sound. And all I have to please is myself not somebody else.
When I’m listening to an audio demo at a store, or an audio show, with the inevitable solo vocal track, you can get incredibly vivid
images out of such demos, but when I close my eyes and compare the sound of the reproduced voice to the sound of someone inevitably talking in the room or nearby, it always reveals an obvious difference between the human voice, and the mechanical reproduced voice.
And I remember at one audio show where I had done this in many rooms, one room above all stood out, and it wasn’t remotely one of the more expensive speaker systems.
They were just using a stand mount pair of Harbeth 30 speakers. The vocals sounded more organic and human than I’d heard from any other system at the show, and when I close my eyes to compare to other voices in the room, I was like “ damn, that’s close!”
I ended up owning Harbeth speakers for a little while and found their reputation for natural voice reproduction to be well-founded in my experience. For whatever reason, vocals reliably sounded more human and natural than any other speaker I’ve owned.
Even small background vocals in the distance in processed pop recordings sounded a little more like “ human beings, singing back there.”
(especially, IMO, using my tube amps, which for me nudged the sound even further in the organic direction).
These are the type of reasons and experiences why I find talk of “ accurately, reproducing the recording” to certainly be worthwhile, but doesn’t capture everything interesting happening in reproduced sound.
(or at least that I am interested in).
My main loudspeakers have qualities I enjoy, but the don't do anything to minimise those sonic aspects, perhaps the opposite. I sometimes wonder what all this sounds like on more mellow (dare I say "warmer") gear.
Like I’ve mentioned before I also auditioned the audio physic Avanti. (And I’ve had the AP Virgos, Libras and Scorpios in my listening room). So I know what you mean.
I think it’s a fine line one might want to walk.
I personally wouldn’t want so much colouration that I give up on being informed about the nature of the recordings. Both because the distinct quality of recordings themselves are part of the fun, and also of course the recordings contain that timbrel information you don’t want to lose, so you want to make sure you don’t homogenize that away.
I’m always trying to find that fine line, which is why for my own system I tend to be OK with a little bit of colouration that nudges it in the direction direction I want, but not to the point of too much obvious colouration or homogenization.