What is a high end stereo SUPPOSED to sound like?

Same experience re slowing down - it sounds less like a mechanical reproduction and more like real instruments playing. Less forced or contrived- as a result, the perceived timing- the stuff 'in between the cracks' is more apparent. This is not 'resolution' or 'transparency' as often used in the audiophile sense, which often takes on a hyper-detailed quality, and is anything but musical.

Same here as well. I think that when we hear more of the music being played, we're simply taking in more info as there is more to the beginning and end of each note, making it seem longer when in fact the same amount of time passes but we absorb more, process more, appreciate more and since we are used to a particular piece of music, it begs comparison.

If one were to time a particular piece of music and then go back and add more instrumental playing, in the same time frame, I think it would have the same effect. We'd be processing more info, or in the case of hearing a recording better, that subtle effect would give the same results.

Or something like that.

All the best,
Nonoise

NoNoise- you hit upon another aspect of that perceived 'slowness': decay time. Many concentrate on the leading edge, when the back-end of the 'wave' is equally important (and doesn't make for stridency, either).

Ok, so I'm not crazy. Or at least my ears aren't crazy.

Interesting comments. I particularly like Nonoise and Whart's observation that realistic decays are at least as important as realistic attacks. In fact, I would add that to the list of answers to the OP's question...

One of the hallmarks of a high end system is that it can present decays convincingly.

Bryon

Whart,

Exactly. Stridency, no. Decay (back end of wave), yes. The more complete the notes, in a musical piece, the more to appreciate.

The only analogous thing I can come up with at the moment is when one is looking at a stream. One can see the whole stream as it rushes (or meanders) past. When the waters clear, one can now see the bottom better. One can also see the streams edge as it works its way around, under and through the lands edges. Swirls and eddies are more apparent. There's more texture, fleeting as it is, to the water, what with reflections from the sun and air currents massaging its surface.

This stream is still traveling at the same speed but once the water is cleared of impurities, there is so much more to take in. It's not sensory overload but rather a better appreciation that uses more of ones mind to soak it all up.

It's that appreciation factor that makes thing seem to slow down as we're now using more than a base sensory input. It's beyond instinctual input as we're not dodging predators or looking for food. It uses a deeper part of our brain which we've honed through time with our relations to others, be it intimate, sports related, even culinary based (here's to another sense).

I'd even go so far as to say that all of our senses work this way and we take it for granted or chalk it up to something else specific to what we're doing at the time. That is what makes this hobby so wonderful for us and a complete mystery to those who don't take the time to listen to what we do.

All the best,
Nonoise