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I've never understood the complaints about the Barbican acoustic.
Before I moved to the US, I regularly attended concerts at the Barbican. The problem with the acoustics stems from the fact that there is a short wall behind the rows of seats in front of the orchestra. This gives rise to early reflections that don't suitably enhance the orchestral sound. What you need are the sidewall reflections that you get in "shoebox" concert halls like Boston's Symphony Hall and Vienna's Musikvereinsaal, in which both I have been lucky enough to attend concerts.
But having said that, the best orchestral sound I have ever experienced was in in Dallas's Meyerson Hall, which is not a shoebox.
And my worst orchestral experience, other than in the Barbican, was in LA's Dorothy Chandler Hall, where being in the audience was akin to listening to music that was taking place in another room entirely.
John Atkinson
Technical Editor, Stereophile