You've got a very valid point

good question.

Agree that Persian classical music is over-amplified. But some amplification is needed. Here' the reason: Western musical instruments used to be like Persian instruments in volume, but church music and the growing concert tradition needed concert hall level volumes. So the old instruments evolved to have greater volume and as a result some tonal quality had to be sacrificed. Today, the average violin does not have the rich, grainy, sound texture of its lower-volume ancestors, the Arabic rebab or the Persian kamancheh--which remained chamber instruments. If the amplification is done faithfully with good equipment and by an expert sound engineer familiar with the instrument, he/she can reproduce the rich chamber music texture of, say, the setar and at the same time fill the concert hall with the sound. The problem you refer to has to do with bad amplification, not amplification per se.

I can not agree with you Ari. The original instrument medieval music concerts prove this. I went to a concert by Jordi Savall and his ensemble (a trio) in Berkeley a few months ago held at a large church. The instruments used were Viola de Gamba, Kamancheh, Rebab, Santur, Daf

and Tombak. No amplification and the sound was warm and inviting.

This: http://calperfs.berkeley.edu/performances/2011-12/early-music/jordi-savall.php

Maybe they don't want you to fall asleep!