Musicality" in a system? What IS that ?

I'm game Gregm. I'll check in shortly. Regards.

Looking forward to yr input, Frogman. Thanks!

I want to thank you all for your fascinating inputs and I wish you good and restful days, hopefully with a "musical" system. I originally thought, I would collect all your posts, take the central idea from each of them and in reporting about it, try to come closer to a definition of musicality for all our benefit. To tell the truth, I haven't got the energy for it right now. I am down with flue, the hearing is impended, the mood subdued. But I'll be back with this question. Warm regards and thanks to all!

I wish you a speedy recovery Detlof. I too will be tied up over the holiday, but will check in shortly afterwards.

About musicality:
Deutsche Grammophone has released all of the Beethoven symphonies with Abado and the Berlin Philharmonics. The recordings are just as horrible as the performance of most of the sympnonies are breathtaking. Abado and the Berliners form a synergy which has not been heard since the days of the Chicago Symphony with Fritz Reiner. I've just finished, listening to Abado's rendering of the 7th. From an audiophile point of view the rendering was just terrible: The soundstage was completely truncated in width and depth and the window to the orchestra was far more removed and veiled than usual. DG at its (more often than not) worst!
The performance however was breathtaking, intelligent, unusual in its tempi, dynamics and phrasing. It took a conscious effort to stop fretting about the system sounding so awful, but when that was achieved,we got carried away by Abado's interpretation of this old war horse and its MUSICALITY. So it seems, its not only the system, its also the performers. If both are right, its a bit of heaven on earth. Just my two cents worth.