What is a high end stereo SUPPOSED to sound like?

Ozfly,
I'd like to tackle your last question re: improving sonics in a system and is it independent of the emotional response, and I'll keep it short. :-)

In my experience, there is a certain amount of joy (Eureka!) when one element of my system takes me higher, closer to that elusive goal of audio nirvana.

That joy is not a constant. It increases along the lines of the hardware improvement and if it's a big enough improvement, the amount of joy I experience can be of a larger amount relative to the former.

It can cure me of my Quixotic endeavors for that last level of improvement that when reached, allows me to simply enjoy the music. I know when I reach it as days, weeks, months will go by and I'm still captivated by what I hear.

It only takes a few bad recordings to make me think that something was overlooked, wrong or missed but when a great recording is used, I'm reassured I made the right choice. There is some lessening of that joy factor when my system can't make every recording sound wonderful but it's only temporary since I also realize that they're just lousy recordings.

That, I believe, is the basis for our addiction in this hobby. It's not the quick fix or endomorphic high we can get from our fast pace, ever changing times which I, for one, am not a part of. Call me old school, better tempered, more disciplined, but the reward factor is still there and like when I correctly repaired an old car for my Dad, back in the days, there was that sense of joy and achievement. Such is the nature of our slow paced hobby and maybe the answer as to why participation is down these days as our youth are out for that quick fix, but that is for another thread.

All the best,
Nonoise

This, from Nonoise, has been my experience as well:

It only takes a few bad recordings to make me think that something was overlooked, wrong or missed but when a great recording is used, I'm reassured I made the right choice. There is some lessening of that joy factor when my system can't make every recording sound wonderful but it's only temporary since I also realize that they're just lousy recordings.

You are suppose to hear noise out of two speakers at once. It should be definable as to rock, country, rap, jazz, ect. It should make you hear not the music but the individuals notes played, hear people breathing in the audience, bugs flying around, ect. It should cause you to forget what cut is being played and make you start complaining about the way it was recorded. Also it is suppose to sound like you got to replace something in your set-up. Cables, amp, speakers, just something or you don't have a high posterior steroe.

I couldn't have said it better: ( http://www.ultrahighendreview.com/the-sound-of-one-hand-clapping/ ) If this is/was a repeat, sorry!

So, we hear things differently despite similar backgrounds, tastes, interests and all of this with the same appreciation, similar levels of equipment, and a similar quest for the best, be it through better recordings or equipment upgrades.

Yet, for all the similarities, we hear differently due to tastes, interests, equipment and a longing for something better be it through a recording or equipment upgrade.

Makes sense to me. :-)

All the best,
Nonoise