AudioFred Messages: 377 Registered: May 2009 Location: Houston
Illuminati (1st Degree)
One of my best memories of listening to classical music is from a few years ago when I was in London and attended an organ recital at the Abbey. We were seated in the choir stalls, with the great double organ facade in front of and behind us. The setting sun was shining through the stained glass West window, and as Big Ben struck the hour the organist began playing Louis Vierne's "Westminster Carrilon", starting with the softest stops and building to a full organ climax.
This isn't the performance we attended, but it's the same music on the same organ. I understand the organist did not use the full reed chorus in this recording because some stops are so loud that they can't be reproduced effectively on a home stereo without using a lot of compression. Also, unless you're listening to a system with a subwoofer capable of reproducing 16hz at 120+dB you will not get the same tactile effect as somebody sitting there. It's like having a bass shaker under your butt.