If you've ever played around with cameras you'll know it's easy to change perspective. We can zoom in for closeup details or move back for a panoramic view.
Each image offers an entirely different feel and focus. A closeup encourages examination of minute details. A more distant view offers a better sense of what goes into those details.
The same can apply to our HiFi systems. If our focus is centered around bringing out music's finer details, it's sometimes at the expense of the bigger image. I remember participating in a cable quest to extract music's every nuance. I got what I wanted but not without damage. My hunt for detail came at the expense of tonal balance.
Of course we've all heard the adage of missing the forest while searching for the tree.
It's true for forests and stereo systems alike.
Once you've focused intently on one area of music's reproduction, it's probably a good idea to pull back and make sure you haven't missed the bigger picture.
Beauty is found in the whole.
