Speakers that are very accurate sounding but don't produce an emotional connection.

In all likelihood I'm the youngest member chiming in here, and in my experience I have noticed the opposite effect. I find on equipment with a more organic or natural tone lost energy in transients and vocals which remove my connection to the artist even if in many cases the music is more listenable.

As I feel the 'nostalgia' answer is a cop-out I'll pose a question instead. Can you consider listening to an album mastered to compensate for a common voicing on components without said voicing an accurate rendition?

Just to add some observations.   A friend who used to own sound labs but sold them due to space issues still had his elaborate pass labs gear and elaborate crossovers and tri amp setup but was temporarily using several pairs of fairly old barely mid FI speakers. The sound was amazing and palpable and many others were shocked how good the system sounded.  

regarding TAD, I have the CR1's and have heard them with a number of amps over the years from solid state to tube to hybrid and with various sources.   Any shortcomings I felt they had were in the electronics as they now sound far better with better electronics, although I have now augmented them with a super tweeter and subs.  

I do love the Magico sound and I'm sure they have gotten even better since hearing the q1's at a dealer demo.   I was wowed by them on some unfamiliar audiophile material but after hearing some standard recordings requested and I knew well, they sounded rather flat, and the dealer took them off before the song was done .   Back at my place an hour later the same tracks I asked to hear (bill Evans, rickie lee jones ) now sounded like audiophile recordings!  And my current electronics are a far better match for them now than those years ago.  

I'm not knocking Magico by any stretch, just pointing out that Tad's set up well with the right match gets you somewhat  close to the real thing, which I hear quite often and from up close.   

In my systems current evolution , the recordings are the weak link in the chain.  The gear is capable of being much more accurate and musical than current recordong technology allows.  

"In my systems current evolution , the recordings are the weak link in the chain. The gear is capable of being much more accurate and musical than current recordong technology allows". emailist

Well said and the underlying truth in pursuit of audio nirvana. I learn a great deal from this forum, and yet; always remember that no matter how much I spend, equipment rolling, tweaks I make....the most critical factor is in the recording quality of the source material we use. 

When I have the time to hang back and engulf myself in audio pleasure, there are times when I think I hear aspects that move me to make changes. Invariably now I will pull up the trusted recordings that I have come to respect the most. I am reminded that the only things I hear that are lacking is the recording.

There are many wonderful speakers, amps and source gear available today. System synergy remains an important factor as does room acoustics. That said, our recording media seems to me to be what influences a non-emotional connection more than anything.

"The recordings are the weakest link in the chain" 

Not enough emphasis is placed on this. Horever this is the bottom line.

2015 was a year for major audio system upgrades for me, initiated by my search for a new pair of loudspeakers.

In my search, at one of the audio salons I visited, the salesman asked me if I prefer "analytic" or "musical" speakers.  I'd never heard the choices expressed that way, thought about it for a bit, "musical" was my choice.

In the process I auditioned some of the finest names in loudspeakers, but those which were characterized as "analytic" just didn't seem to float my boat.  I found that most of them cause listener fatigue to set in quite quickly (even when driven by smooth sounding tube equipment).

As a result, I ended up with a new pair of Focal's that offered me exceptional detail, dynamics and sound stage, but didn't tire me out.