"Emotionally involving" music and your system...

Two pieces have left me feeling overwhemlmed as you describe, and they're both by Shostakovich. The first one was the 2nd Piano Trio, performed by the Borodin Trio at Parry Sound, Canada in about 1992 or so. The other was a performance of the 14th Symphony done by the National Arts Centre Orchestra under Pinchas Zuckerman in Ottawa about a month ago.

Both performances compelled a total involvement with the emotions of the music, and left me feeling drained. But while the Trio gave me a feeling a bleakest despair, the symphony left me with a sense of paradoxical hope. Both were wonderful experiences that I'll always treasure.

The Grateful Dead, 10/9/89 Hampton Coliseum, Hampton, VA. The show was billed as "Formerly, The Warlocks". That night the band broke out Dark Star for the 1st time since 1984, Death Don't Have No Mercy for the second time since 1970, and Attics of My Life for the first time since 1972. The show was monumental and moving, but the best part was when the lights went on immediately after the show. Everyone suddenly saw everybody else and we all let out a collective scream at the top of our lungs for what we had just seen. It doesn't get any better than that, and if my system ever comes even close I'll be very scared.

Live music is almost always better because, I believe, you pick up the energy and dynamics of the musicians. That can't be done at home. For me, the following concerts hit home the closest regarding your question:

Bela Fleck (2001, Greensboro, Carolina Theatre) -- the live cd is great but can't approach the immediacy and energy of the live performance

Vladamir Horowitz (1977, Iowa City Hancher Auditorium) -- I sat to the left at eye level with the piano so could see him stroking the keys. Wow! A recording cannot duplicate that.

AC/DC (1995ish, Cleveland Colliseum) -- what can I say? The energy of that band has to be seen live to appreciate them.

Dave Brubeck (1998, Boston, Sanders Theatre, Memorial Hall) -- I sat on the stage itself. Holy moly! It was absolutely incredible.

Paul Sprawl (2003, the Garage, Winston Salem) -- this guy does stuff with his guitar you have to see to believe. His hands drum the acoustic guitar while he plays -- very complex, very musical. The cd is just not as much fun, though very good.

Live music and reproduced music are two different things.
The former is a time art;it exists on a time line and once performed,can never be duplicated. Perhaps that is part of the reason music is the most abstract art. The interplay among minds,of musicians and listeners,is unique to its moment.
Recorded music can be reproduced over and over but does not have the immediacy of a live hearing. Upgrading a system will not change that fact.

Two come to mind.

--Charles Mingus with the "Changes" era band at a small club.
--The Cleveland Orchestra playing the g minor Mozart symphony.

I have attended some very emotionally moving concerts over the years. I have been moved to tears by the beauty of the music on quite a few occasions. I guess I am lucky, or maybe just happened to be in the right places at the right times.

That said, I have been fortunate and lucky enough to be able to put together audio systems which have come very close to duplicating the live experience and have literally moved me to tears with many of my recordings.

I know that many audiophiles think this can't be done in the home, but maybe it's just that you haven't achieved it personally.

It's not voodoo or bending the laws of physics at all; it's mainly common sense and paying attention to the myriad of variables in system setup. I tend to favor speaker and amp combinations that will produce a wide dynamic range over a wide bandwidth, with very low distortion. I pay close attention to the proper "tuning" and positioning of each component. Everything must be compatible, including the system wiring, and the room acoustics must allow the sound to bloom, or the magic is just not going to happen. The recordings must be excellent, as well, and on a highly resolving system you can easily tell when things are just as they should be. Overlooking the details will kill the delicate balance in the blink of an eye. Those overly concerned with WAF, and their decor usually never achieve very good sound quality (although the gear sure looks pretty sitting there).

Of course if you adopt a defeatist attitude before you start and tell yourself you can never achieve live sound, your odds of ever having it happen are, well, slim to none... Although the percentage of people who can consistently dial systems in to deliver this high level of sound is small, I have been fortunate enough to know a few of them in my many years as a music lover and audiophile.

Hey, maybe I should team up with Rives Audio, and after Rives fixes the room acoustics I could fine tune the system itself... What about it Rives?!