First, let me state that I believe that CD audio, played through a modern DAC and quality stereo equipment is pretty much the pinnacle of home audio listening. That is to say, I think 44.1kHz 16-bit PCM audio is plenty good and I'm in no rush to replace my CD collection, nor do I think significant investment in higher bandwidth audio (for playback, mixing and mastering are another story) buys you much.
That said, there's one thing the article does not address and that is "beating", or really inter-modulation distortion from instrumental overtones.
Instruments are not limited to 20-20kHz. They can have overtones well above this range. Additionally, note that short pulse-width signals, i.e. transients, like drum strikes, especially involving wooden percussion, can have infinite bandwidth. (Not really infinite, but pulse-width is inversely proportional to bandwidth.
In a real listening environment (i.e. live performance) these overtones have a chance to interact with one another in the air. It is possible that these overtones may beat with one another and cause inter-modulation products in the audible range. For an example of this, play a 1000 Hz tone through your left speaker, and a 1001 Hz through your right speaker. You will hear a distinct 1 Hz "beat". The audibility of these are largely dependent on listening position and amplitude, but it is possible to occur with instruments. Since most recordings are done using a "close mic" technique (placing the microphone very close to the source) the interactions such as this are never recorded.
However, if full bandwidth of the producing instruments is preserved, these interactions of the overtones can be reproduced in a playback environment given equipment having a wide enough bandwidth and degree of quality.
That said, there's one thing the article does not address and that is "beating", or really inter-modulation distortion from instrumental overtones.
Instruments are not limited to 20-20kHz. They can have overtones well above this range. Additionally, note that short pulse-width signals, i.e. transients, like drum strikes, especially involving wooden percussion, can have infinite bandwidth. (Not really infinite, but pulse-width is inversely proportional to bandwidth.
In a real listening environment (i.e. live performance) these overtones have a chance to interact with one another in the air. It is possible that these overtones may beat with one another and cause inter-modulation products in the audible range. For an example of this, play a 1000 Hz tone through your left speaker, and a 1001 Hz through your right speaker. You will hear a distinct 1 Hz "beat". The audibility of these are largely dependent on listening position and amplitude, but it is possible to occur with instruments. Since most recordings are done using a "close mic" technique (placing the microphone very close to the source) the interactions such as this are never recorded.
However, if full bandwidth of the producing instruments is preserved, these interactions of the overtones can be reproduced in a playback environment given equipment having a wide enough bandwidth and degree of quality.