What is a high end stereo SUPPOSED to sound like?

Stereo replay never actually reproduces a musical event.
The only thing you can hope for is a credible illusion.
But it can be a very nice illusion.

----Bruno Putzeys

Rok2id,

I've also had the pleasure of someone thinking there was a live event at my place with the window open or the door ajar. Not all the time, usually a solo instrument (guitar, piano) and the grin on my face was priceless.

All the best,
Nonoise

Grainless, Shameless and Painless!!!

Rok2id touches on something i experienced recently and commented about on another forum. At a Shakespeare Festival here in the Hudson Valley- held in large tent open to the river on one end, pre-recorded tracks of simple music- small string section, or small choral group- sounded absolutely alive, no funny bass abnormalities, no shouty glare ala the typical PA system, although what was being used was fairly modest pro sound support: alot of small self-powered monitors, mounted high in the scaffolding, pointing in various directions, almost in an arc. Point was/is, that to me, it wasn't the 'highest end' equipment and it made me wonder about the effects of the room.
I've been using horns for the past 6 or so years, to get that sort of 'aliveness' and I agree, it is at best an illusion that sometimes works. When it does, that's what it's all about!

Audiophiles love to battle their rooms to improve room acoustics. Sometimes, certain battles can be won but in the end the room is what it is unless of course you totally change it into something else. That's true of live venues and studios during production and our rooms at home during playback.

Room acoustics can and generally are conquered to the extent needed to SIMULATE a live sound in your room, but what you get is more off an abstract Monet determined largely by room acoustics than an accurate reproduction of what things sounded like originally.

"but what you get is more off an abstract Monet determined largely by room acoustics"

Actually room acoustics and the recording production process together determine what a recording will sound like in your room and how "lifelike".

A "high end system" should be capable of fooling you with the right recording playing more times than not I would say. But in all cases it should remain true to the recording.