What is a high end stereo SUPPOSED to sound like?

Elizabeth, you are saying a high-end stereo does more, but the trick is getting it to do more of the RIGHT things than more of the WRONG things?

This is getting more complicated than I originally planned but:
1) Can a stereo make a recording sound better than it really is?
and
2) If so, can it do it consistently?
or
3) Is the best you can hope for is to mess up the recording as little as possible? I.E. add or subtract nothing.

Foster_9,
Well said, that`s my standard also.
Regards,

Like the telltale rustle made by ghosts of c-notes past...

If it's true hi-fi, it 'should' sound like the original source. However no stereo system does this, esp if you are sitting in front of it. My system which is very much lo/mid-fi CAN sound like a live artist is performing if I am listening to it while in a room other than the room the sytem is located, and it's solo or small group music. No stsero system will make you think the Chicago symphony is in your house, but maybe Joan Baez. The term 'high end' is not revelant. My system is just as realistic as any on this site i.e. it seldom sounds like the real thing. But it does satisfy my need to listen to music, and I cannot imagine being without it.