We hear so much about detail but what does it mean?

How is it golden eared reviewers are able to retain that quotient of detail appraisal in time for their next review sample to turn up?

In the common language of England, WTF is detail?

I remember being "dragged" up the Odeon steps in my very early teens to watch The Sound of Music. Mam liked Julie Andrews, and OK, she was really clear and you heard every word sung.

I remember doing drawings at school, and being told to illustrate the detail in the feathers of the Jay (Garrulus glandarius - the Eurasian Jay so as not to be confused).

In tech drawing detail was used to illustrate a 2D drawing to give an impression as to the items real appearance, although, it was still a line drawing on paper - it could never look real!

At one time, listening to something, I was told it had great detail, and ever since I've thought of detail as all those mixed noises that can't be described as anything in particular, so when I read about detail, I think "noise" and at that point I stop reading.

And while I'm at it, what are crystalline highs? There are soluble and anhydrous crystals: table salt and washing soda being examples of soluble crystals; quartz and FeCl3 being anhydrous (but made by another process you can get hydrated ferric chloride).

Crystals, to me, are crunchy things, and before I forget, there's silicon carbide used for grinding and emery cloth.

If that's audiophilia, you can keep it! 

At the same time as a review waxes lyrical about great detail and crystalline treble, you sometimes find a complaint about shrill highs.

In audiophilia circles I've heard of lots of BS describing HF distortion and new words like sibaleance describing a kind of acceptable sibilance...

Since the earliest amplifiers engineers have struggled with sibilance and that's due to high frequency distortion. It is the reason for the "scratch filter" and that never worked either.

Why can't the industry admit it still struggles with HF distortion?

Ah, I know why. Because if you do, the idiot hi-fi buyer will blame your products instead of the culprit!

What people don't understand is that one product might overcome HF distortion but when paired with another product that hasn't, the result is HF distortion.

At least one reviewer did say "shrill highs spoil the enjoyment of music". So it is a known problem.

Some of us work virtually full time looking for the nth contributor to HF distortion, in the hopes of finding the ultimate cure.

Others are only in it for the millions.

The 'detail' is evident when I moved from ''budget' equipment of Rock and Ballads music to me subtle tone of jazz, african Jazz in acoustic instruments or the 1950'S American Folk and blues guitars and the reality of the instrument may it the Armonica or flute of the guitar .....you can feel the '' Yamaya'' or "'Fender''  and you can differientiate......the tone assisted by the "detail'' trait that the Amp, b i-polar or Mosfet or Valve or other transistors design configuration .......Detail is Important to my ageing ears and my cognitive impairment 

So right, Sylvain, and I was just about to move onto the different sounds that make up detail in my mind.

Crash, splash, ride, hat

There's a lot of cheap kit that will do boom-tssch, and cymbals just sound the same like high frequency white noise. HF distortion gets in the way.

That take's me back, to my first job when I had to read a drawing. I've not had to do that now for well over 12 years. It was always hard work trying to tell someone that you don't look at an engineering drawing you read it.

 MAC computer wav files on USB played thru Majestic DAC

 to Proprius amps powering 97dB/1watt speakers... WOW ! all the "detail" !

  Supertramp - Even In The Quietest Moments album - 

   03 - Even In The Quietest Moments  

The Alan Parsons Project, Pyramid album, "03 The Eagle Will Rise Again" playback on USB input... 

better clarity of vocals and instruments' sounds,

especially between 100Hz and 2500Hz.

 On "07 Pyramania" the "yak-yak-yak-yak"

sounds like the voice is present, not just vocal notes.

 In the 1940's and 1950's, the telephone industry found the band of sound frequencies that are hardest to clearly reproduce were voice frequencies... from 100Hz to 3000Hz, what is considered "mid-range". 

By controlling and EQing the high and low frequencies , telephone designers were able to reduce distortion and make clearer voice communication.

 Graham's designs are focused on making the sound clarity come to life by controlling the high and low frequencies to remove their influence on the voices' and instruments' true sound... 

 while maintaining a full frequency response that is flat.

"Well said Bruce"

There is very little, if nothing at all, that one can do to make a bad (or poorly engineered) recording sound any better.

In Europe the have learned do disclose '' or describe  '''Original' copy on the packing. But I have learned to chose two particular CD' engineer audio production  C for Columbia and S for ....AND also the new upscale remastered of the new century with better engineering console .....makes a big hearing difference of CD reproduction from the early 1980's /early 90's Cds. 

I wonder if there will ever be a transducer that will convert sound into taste? 

That could be interesting, if bizarre!

I don't have them on my amp