What is a high end stereo SUPPOSED to sound like?

I agree with you Cdc. It should sound like nothing. At the risk of using an inflammatory word, the system should be neutral.

IME, the most common obstacle to reaching that elusive goal is the listening room. No matter how good the equipment, if the room sounds like something, the system will never sound like nothing.

Bryon

"Nothing" would infer no effects from room acoustics. Is that what a high end stereo system is supposed to sound like? I am not sure about that. How would spatial queues captured in the recording be delivered to the ears accurately? Can a sound even be truly "high end" without delivering these accurately to some extent?

Inquiring minds want to know...

It should sound so good that you sold your soul to get it, but you're overjoyed because you still have your soul and you tricked the devil into accepting money for music!

It should sound how you want it to sound.

There are many studios that have floor standing monitor speakers(inside recording area) in order to compare sound recorded from each instrument where musicians before recording are being asked to play simple passage individually and than as band. Each time the passage played is compared to the sound from speaker till satisfied. The music instrument or any source of sound in the same room shoud sound as close as possible like sound comming from speaker(s) in the same room.

Pretty simple to judge this particular way and it's way different from "Nothing".

Ain't that Somethin'?