Exactly.
Most supplement their symphony schedule with pop and musical content to keep revenue flowing. I would avoid any orchestra that relies upon sound reinforcement. Why would they do that?
Many do, in fact. Not all (any) concert halls have perfect acoustics throughout. The enhancements are there primarily to provide a better experience for those who can't sit in row N center where I like to seat myself. Those who are way off to one side, or towards the back or under a balcony, for example. Also, even halls that were supposedly designed for good acoustics (their numbers are legion) are really not so good by modern acoustical standards and no amount of add on sound deflectors and absorbers can fix them.
I was part of the group that evaluated the system that was incorporated in Greensboro's new c.2800 seat Tanger center, and the Meyer Constellation was installed. I sat through a few calibration sessions with the Orchestra in practice, and the Meyer team set up various DSP modes for orchestral, for "pop", for Broadway musicals, for example. The Symphony team also went to San Francisco where the system was installed in the symphony hall- and was also used for orchestral concerts- to evaluate its use. Baldwin Hall in Durham, where I am a subscriber for their chamber series (row 2 dead center) uses a lesser system for their chamber series- and it is active, and not at all noticeable where I sit, but quite noticeable, when on, at the back of the hall.
The local Symphony Director was/is very enthusiastic about that kind of system. He has experienced enhancement in many halls throughout the world both as a conductor and a performer (he's a world class violinist) and could hardly speak more highly of them- much to my distress.
I was invited to attend the set up sessions as they had grown tired of my bleating about the use of augmentations, and in deference to my financial support for the Orchestra I was able to attend and give my utterly worthless opinions.
Even renowned halls like the Symphony Hall, Boston, have crappy areas. I know-I've hung out under the balcony during the days when I was a starving young engineer, fresh off the boat, so to speak. I've also been to the Albert Hall (I went to college a stones throw from it) on several occasions, enduring the poor sound there, and also paid my dues in numerous visits to the "peanut" gallery of the Festival Hall (another hall famed for its acoustics) and they are supposedly much improved by the electronically controlled resonators, speakers etc. that have been added.
More or less every concert is recorded- including the symphony and chamber performances- and the microphones that are used for both purposes- archival and correction- are generally not very noticeable unless you look for them.
Frankly, for many people uncorrected live sound at these concerts is not so good. Not everyone gets to sit themselves in anything approaching an approximation of where the purist recording mics would be placed (whatever your preferred mic arrangement is). What the symphony boards and music directors care about is not the sensibilities of you, I, and our ilk, but the 20ish person of color who they are attempting to lure into the seats to keep the great tradition of western music/culture alive beyond this generation, and that means making the music as approachable and the sound as good as it can be, independent of our desires.
We're a dying breed. Almost nobody, including, in my experience, many musicians, gives a rat's a** about how it sounds to an audiophile. Musicians want their part to be heard and more punters to keep filling the seats so they can continue to get paid what they consider to be a pittance.
