How much reality do you really need?

**** how much reality do you need to enjoy your system? ****

As much as possible; within the limits of what I’m willing to spend.

**** Does it have to be close to an exact match? ****

”exact match” is very subjective. For me, even the best are not “close to an exact match”. So, again, as close as possible.

**** How close before your satisfied? ****

Impossible to quantify. As long as I can understand the musical message, I’m satisfied. Anything beyond that is icing on the cake; and I do like icing. Having said that, there’s icing out of a can and then there’s icing made with real butter and vanilla.

Personally, I find that for many, a fantastic performance can be deemed “unlistenable” due to relatively minor (for me) sonic problems. I simply don’t get the mindset that doesn’t allow ignoring relatively minor sonic deficiencies for the sake of the music.


++++ how much dressing do you like on your salad? ++++

As much as, or as close to the amount that live music puts on its salad. Listen to enough of it and it becomes obvious when one is putting on too little or too much.

Can you prove, with metaphysical certitude, that the color I perceive as "blue" is not what you see as "red"?

Does it matter? I would ask: look at the sky, what color is it? You say blue and I say red. Then you ask: look at the ocean, what color is it? I say red and you say blue. We understand each other.

@jjss49 , I respectfully disagree. If I put the whole lot of you in a room with an "absolute sound" system all of you would agree right away that is the best you have heard. You know it when you hear it. It is like seeing a hologram. Everybody will see it and be amazed. Not that it won't have some faults but with the best systems you can close your eyes and see the individual instruments and voices. The speakers disappear. It is more than and instrument here and a guitar there. The individual instruments and voices have space around them. My own feeling is that it is 80% speaker and room, 15% amp and 5% everything else. The cheapest system I have heard do this was in and around $90,000 in todays money.
Which in the realm of high end audio is not all that bad. I have heard 200 to 300K systems that did not make it. Perhaps they could with the right speaker placement and room treatment but for whatever reason they did not get there. I also think over dampening the room is better than under dampening. All three systems I heard that made it were strongly directional limiting room interaction....I think. 

My own feeling is that it is 80% speaker and room, 15% amp and 5% everything else. The cheapest system I have heard do this was in and around $90,000 in todays money.

You are right in the first sentence....

You are not wrong in the second sentence,but give me 15,000 bucks and i will make it sound like the 90,000 bucks one....Why not if i can make my 500 bucks system sound like a 15,000 bucks one ?

There is no reality. It is all an illusion.

This is naive philosophy.... When all is illusion, reality exist, it is the "relation" between all these illusions....Call it consciousness... If you cannot spell it by this name it is because you are a naive "materialist"...



«Reality bind all illusions and they become " real"  illusions like in a game; illusion and reality are one loving conscious act called playing...»- Anonymus Smith




«Music is not sound, this is an illusion; music is through sound, this is reality»-Anonymus Smith

«I was just thinking the opposite....»-Groucho Marx 🤓