How much reality do you really need?

How you listen is important.  There are times I sit back and listen for the beauty and significance of the music, and the beautiful sounds of my stereo.
  But there are times I IMAGINE I’m in a hall; then I listen for the artifacts of reality — sound staging and such.  Then, I can convince myself my set is accurately producing my experience in an auditorium.

rvpiano, that would be sad indeed. Dysfunctional maybe.

@jjss49, The reality is the same for everyone. It is how they interpret it that differs. An absolute sound system will do exactly the same thing for a well recorded Bruce Springsteen concert as for a well recorded symphony, make it believable. The best systems do not discriminate. In spite of imperfections in the process at multiple levels a system can still be put together that with your eyes closed will make you feel as if you are at a live performance and such a system will convince everyone listening to it of exactly the same illusion. 

But my question is how much does that search distract from or even destroy your enjoyment of the music?

I would say it used to somewhat but since I've been reading more about the problem I know it's never possible to recreate the sound of a live performance or even a studio mix in your home all you can do is try to recreate what's on the recorded media to sound as good to yourself as possible whether LP, CD, Tape or file. 

Mijostyn,

Dysfunctional — “A failure to function in an expected or complete manner. Usually refers to a disorder in a bodily organ (e.g. erectile dysfunction), a mental disorder, or the improper behavior of a social group.”

Is this what you mean?

All I'm looking for is an emotional connection to the music and to understand where the composer/artist/performer etc. wants to take me and/or what they want me to feel or think about.

And it doesn't take a ne plus ultra system to do that.  In fact, most of the ultra high end systems I've heard had me concentrating more on the sound of the system than the music being played.  Maybe that would change over time and familiarity, but I'll never know because I'm unwilling to spend the kind of money it would take to get to that point.

At this point, my system does what I want.  I'm going to be changing a few things in the near future that will hopefully increase my enjoyment of my music collection.