@devilboy - This conversation takes me back to the "original" audio press argument over whether or not something called "The Absolute Sound" existed. Back when Harry Pearson was at the helm of TAS he asserted that "the absolute sound" of a musical event as reproduced by our systems was what the audiophile quest was all about. I think we are both in agreement that there is no "absolute sound". The most we might, as audiophiles and music lovers hope for, is to put together a sound system that reproduces music that sounds as much like the real thing as our ears are capable of perceiving.
As much as I think I am close to that realization, I am certain I could find plenty of audiophiles who would find my system "colored" in some way as their perception of reality or "good sound" is different. Example...I have been embracing the Vandersteen sound for the past 30 years. My ears like the version of reality that RV employs in his designs. I know audiophiles who embrace the electrostatic sound of Martin Logan speakers. While I hear many virtues in the sound those speakers produce, my ears don't connect that sound with what I hear when listening to live unamplified music. My Treo CT speakers do that for ME, but it certainly is not "the absolute sound".
As much as I think I am close to that realization, I am certain I could find plenty of audiophiles who would find my system "colored" in some way as their perception of reality or "good sound" is different. Example...I have been embracing the Vandersteen sound for the past 30 years. My ears like the version of reality that RV employs in his designs. I know audiophiles who embrace the electrostatic sound of Martin Logan speakers. While I hear many virtues in the sound those speakers produce, my ears don't connect that sound with what I hear when listening to live unamplified music. My Treo CT speakers do that for ME, but it certainly is not "the absolute sound".