Is a highly discerning system enjoyable?

It’s easy to start thinking we have audio mostly figured out simply because it’s 2023. But that’s not true. Audio gear continues to fall far behind live music in real spaces, primarily in dynamics, scale and bass.

With the exception of the lucky few with massive rooms & audio installations totaling millions of dollars, the rest of us make do with a subset of what music IRL sounds like.

My theory is that given all this, audio designers often go after "low hanging fruit,"  objectives that are at least theoretically attainable given the best test gear and well sourced components: things like lowering measurable distortions of all kinds; increasing apparent resolution (detail and treble "air" being the usual targets); and trying to address macro-dynamics to whatever degree is possible at a price-point..

Results are pretty mixed. A lot of audio gear chases sound qualities that aren't much like the real thing. Striving to hear the violinist’s smallest breath sounds or the exact type of resin and bow used are intellectually interesting, but not comparable to experiencing violin music in real spaces.

I’ve heard a lot of live music in my life (different genres). Speaking of classical, choral, and opera (which tend to be performed in spaces with above average acoustics), I can’t remember ever actually focusing on resolution, detail or "plankton" in what I’m hearing. The experience of live music is too palpable and impressive for that kind of navel-gazing, at least in my experience.

Building a good stereo system is building a nervous system that should insinuate itself into yours but not necessarily comply with yours. It’s like raising a child. There are factors impinging on it that we haven’t yet sussed out and that may never be. That’s part of the fun and mystery.

Plus, I doubt we have gone very deep yet with electrical current and what it really is.

Like asking if a high performance car is fun to drive.  If you don't like cars or driving and just see it a way to get from point A to point B, then no, it might not be.  And if one doesn't particularly like music and just sees it as something to have going on in the background then no, a good system might not seem all that nice to live with.