Jay Mitchell
Fractal Fanatic
The quality (and expense) of the gear you use on stage is a personal choice. The homily that the "average Joe" (whoever that is) can't tell a difference can just as easily be used as an argument against spending the money on an Axe-Fx as against spending more money on monitors. You need to make your own choice, and you don't need to justify it to anyone else. If you think $1k - or $2k or $3k - is too much to spend on a monitor, then don't spend that much. I'm somewhat chagrinned to see anyone arguing against someone else choosing to spend that much. It's their money and their choice.
My observation about sound quality - as opposed to guitar "tone" quality - is that the average audience member can tell a diiference, and that they generally prefer more transparent, articulate sound. The line arrays that I've used for PA for the past 2+ years produce a vocal sound that is far more natural and articulate than you're ever likely to hear in a night club environment, and I've gotten many unsolicited compliments on the sound quality of the PA, from musicians and non-musicians alike. When I began using them, I knew they would constitute a radical improvement in the sound of the band I was playing with at the time. The only question - and it was a minor one - was the degree to which that difference would be detectable by the audience. As it turns out, they can definitely tell, and they like what they hear.
My observation about sound quality - as opposed to guitar "tone" quality - is that the average audience member can tell a diiference, and that they generally prefer more transparent, articulate sound. The line arrays that I've used for PA for the past 2+ years produce a vocal sound that is far more natural and articulate than you're ever likely to hear in a night club environment, and I've gotten many unsolicited compliments on the sound quality of the PA, from musicians and non-musicians alike. When I began using them, I knew they would constitute a radical improvement in the sound of the band I was playing with at the time. The only question - and it was a minor one - was the degree to which that difference would be detectable by the audience. As it turns out, they can definitely tell, and they like what they hear.
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