How close to the real thing?

"Are we making progress and how close are we?"

I doubt it.

What you hear from a particular recording on your rig in your room is distinct in almost every way from what you hear at any particular live performance in a particular venue.

I question whether the absolute sound possible today is really that much better than what was achievable years ago. It is more readily available in more different configurations to more these days I would say and probably for significantly lower cost than prior if done right, so there has been progress in terms of delivering good sound to more, assuming one is interested in that.

That was 2005 CES.

It was the 2004 THE Show at the St. Tropez.

I remember reading articles about this before.It may have been done more in Europe,or some other country overseas. But,from what I remember,some speaker companies put on a demonstration in large auditoriums with great results. Reviewers from magazines may be where I read about it.I get more enjoyment at home myself.When I've gone to listen to a live orchestra,I always seem to get the seats where all the ladies with the fur sit around me.This fur adsorbs all the highs.It makes those live concerts sound lifeless at times.I even tried clothes that have less absorption characteristics,but we can't be seated alone. When they do a good job of recording,their mikes capture a lot of what we miss out on.If we could hear them in an empty auditorium,the outcome would be better for a live performance,at least in my experience.They do sound fantastic when they're getting ready,before the auditorium fills up,but then there is a lot of reflections.There are places with small jazz groups that don't have this problem with the large close crowd,and I can say my system at home gives a fantastic illusion of,you are there. I have no idea on what kind of percentage to put on recorded music, but when they do it right,I would have to say that its fairly high.

Essential,
Don't argue with me, I put the consortium together for Von Schweikert--Oracle, PS Audio, Rives Audio, Acoustic Zen, VAC...altzheimers, a wonderful thing, helps me meet new people every day. It WAS probably 2004--somehow, since that was the year of my divorce, I was probably numb most of the time--anesthetized...
We did The Show, as it was, though slightly less traveled, a good place to be.
The girls were as sweet and beautiful as they were talented. Great time that year.

Thanks for reminding me of how 'out of touch' my memory has...what were we talking about??
Larry

Respectfully, I'm thinking that what you're hearing, Hifitime, is the lack of a tweeter blaring at you...with this obnoxious HF hash.
My favorite saying is, 'The best tweeter I ever heard, I didn't.'
It's true, very few loudspeakers capture the true harmonic structure of a violin without 'hyping' the HF energy...Sad, but true.
I know that, if I go for a few months without 'live violins' and then hear one, I usually blink a bit at first until my brain recalibrates the info. So I know what you're saying, completely.

Larry