07-11-12: Swampwalker
...recorded music never sounds like live music. It's a simulation of live music.
Swampwalker definitely hits the nail right on the head although most issues brought up here are quite valid. The process of getting live music onto recording and the capturing of sound through the microphone. Try imagining the big wall of sound converging to the head of the microphone before being converted to electrical signal and amplified/reproduced through loudspeakers. The sound that we get at the end of loudspeakers is a simulation of live music, in other words an illusion that the musicians performing in live shows or recording studios are brought into our rooms before us.
We can replicate or improve the illusion or feel of a live concert in our homes by proper setting up of the system and room treatments(apart from selection of loudspeakers) but we can only go so far with the equipment/technology that we have. I would look at dynamic speakers and the room if one wants to get a more live concert feel in the room.