How much reality do you really need?

GO MAX!!

Mahgister, I do not spend my time analyzing you every word. What I can say for certain if you think you can come up with an "absolute sound" system for $500?...... God bless.

+1 erik_squires

If one makes a decision to not listen at "realistic" or "concert" volume one has already decided to "depart reality."

Similarly, I guess, if one prefers to have recordings without people coughing, talking, or ordering a beer.

Is the aspiration for sound in one's listening room really to replicate the sound in a studio, concert hall, or bar?

Or is there some other "reality" one should aspire to?

No; if one always lets the primary focus be the performance.  Otherwise, that search is a constant distraction.  

In many cases a realistic volume level is not all that loud. I take my sound pressure meter to some venues.(some you can't take it in with you.) At the Regatta Bar in Cambridge, Ma I get between 85 and 95 dB. At those volumes my ears never ring. These are relatively easy levels to achieve in a home system with the exception of low bass. A speaker will have it's frequency response tested at 1 meter, say it does 20Hz to 20kHz +- 3 dB. what that means in reality in a room at 4 meters is 50Hz to 20kHz if you are lucky. The entire bottom octave is missing and it is that octave that give you the visceral sensations you get at a live venue. So, some systems regardless of the volume are never going to give you the "I am there" vibe. This is just one reason subwoofers are so important even if they open another can of worms. It takes at least two 15" woofers or four 12" woofers to properly load a room at 20 Hz minimum. You can add bass with smaller subwoofers but you won't make it down to 20 Hz effectively enough to get to 95 dB.