MINI_Zoso wrote:To a certain extent that is true. I'm sure we have all been to concerts where the volume level required the distance or to get the sound quality you needed to be further back. Speaking for myself though, seeing the artist is number one on my list with hearing them an extremely close second. So my priority for seats will always be vantage point. I am a "wanna be" guitar player, when I look back at the concerts I have been to, easily 90% where because of their guitar player(s). Darn right I want to hear Joe play live...but for me I want to see him play live too, without squinting.
And I'm the exact opposite. For me, less than stellar sound ruins the concert experience. I can always bring binoculars for a closer view, or in my case, a telephoto camera lens. But there is nothing I can do if my seat is in a bad spot acoustically.
Good acoustics has little to do with volume. It's all about how the sound system reacts with the room.
My living room is a great example. I have nice old Altec VOTT A5 speakers, with Crown-based subs and very nuanced, current rich tube amplifiers. Everything is positioned so I get all the sound right at my listening chair. It always astounds me when I get up to get a snack, there is a spot in my LR where any frequencies lower than 60Hz are completely cancelled out and the base just disappears. I know it's there, but for the life of me, I can't hear it from that spot. If I move the speakers a little one way or the other, it comes back in that spot and goes away in another.
If you see a picture of a well designed audio room, the speakers are away from the front wall and away from the side walls. The listening chair is about equidistant from the speakers to the rear wall; never close to the speakers. The sound needs an opportunity to fill the space before it gets to our ears. If it gets there too early from the front then the bounceback from the rear conflicts.
That's why sound engineers and professional recording equipment are usually in the middle of the room.
The point is, if you're sitting in the middle of the venue, at least be comforted that you have the best chance of getting the best sonic experience.