What is a high end stereo SUPPOSED to sound like?


I've been thinking about this for a while....like 10+ years. Would be interested in what others have to say.
My latest answer would have to be "nothing". I want to hear the music and not the stereo. Like "Come over and listen to some music" versus "Come over and listen to my new stereo". If there are errors, they would be errors of omission, not commission because I assume they are less noticeable.
cdc
Very fair, indeed.

The times when it sounds real don't happen as often as we'd like so one must revel in the throes when in its presence, knowing it's fleeting at best.

More wine?

All the best,
Nonoise
Speaking of wine, I don't drink anymore, and my wife has cases moldering in the basement. We went to a birthday party for a young friend last night who just turned 40 and i said, 'dear, why don't you pull out one of those older bottles collecting dust.' She pulled out a case of 1989 Chateau Palmer and we wrapped up a bottle for him as a gift. We paid close to nothing at the time for that case. It apparently still drinks well, according to grape reports. Our friend was delighted.
I only started about half a year ago to help me get to sleep due to a shoulder injury. All I can take is about two fingers and I'm done for the night. About twice a week does it for me. I just can't stand taking medications.

Apparently you have a good supply of gifts for the foreseeable future.

All the best,
Nonoise
'LIVE' has nothing to do with how good something sounds or all the other adjectives used here to describe stereo systems. LIVE is your local band at the friday night football game or Your kids trying to learn piano or clarinet.

Can a system sound LIVE. Yes. But your brain has to be tricked into thinmking it's live music. You can't think it's live if you are sitiing in a room right in front of the system. Your eyes will override your ears, and the brain will always side with the eyes.

Several years ago in Germany, me and a friend were walking thru the parking lot to the PX in Nurnberg. We heard this band, and saw a crowd down at the other end of the parking lot. They sounded great. We went to see and listen and discovered that it was not a band at all, but the SONY Representative demostrating his speakers. The kind with square or rectangular flat drivers. I think the power amp was phase linear. Out in the open, no room or walls. I thought it was live right up until I could see. Then my eyes/brain restored reality. Still sounded good, just not live. But I was so impressed (former trumpet player), I went right into the PX and bought the LP! Maynard Ferguson's 'Conquistador"
btw, the reason he was outside was that, no way the store would allow that volume level inside.
I have never thought my system sounded live, but I have a few times thought that someone just listening from outside might think it was live.
Cheers.