Detailed sound? Real?

reality and reproduction are two different phenomenona.

i suspect that what is really important is whether an owner likes the sound of his/her stereo system, rather than what it actually sounds like in a descriptive sense.

what difference does it make, except in a philosophical sense that a stereo system sounds dynamic, dull, bright, forward , etc., so long as a listener likes the sound ?

Tvad, I don't think there is "absolute" in audio reproduction. A piano sounds very different in different halls and studios. Unless we have the exact same piano in our listening room, how do we know what it should sound like? Also, what are we trying to reproduce? The piano sounded like what it should in the recording studio or what it should sound like in the listening room? What is the reference of absolute?

"Do we hear in stereo or Mono?"

I think that the answer is, "it depends". Generally, at an acoustic concert you'll hear the performers in something close to mono, with very little left/right distinction. A brass quintet, for instance, will only sound "stereo" if you're able to sit on stage. In the auditorium it'll sound mono, although there will be some very small left/right clues.

To simulate an orchestra or large organ you need a large system in a large room. Many of us hear have actually heard a pretty convincing reproduction of a marching band on a football field. Kimber's IsoMike recordings give very good size and direction cues. Still, those mics are relatively close to the stage, more so than any seat, so you'll hear more cues on playback. However, in a large room, sitting well back, you'll hear mostly mono.

Performance replication is actually very possible with only small compromises, BUT at what cost. Most need to compromise for budget and space issues and end up with a scaled down replica of the "real thing."

Dave