How much reality do you really need?

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.

@mijostyn  Your post presupposes that reality exists autonomously, independent of everyone's apprehension of it.  I'll leave that one to @hilde45 to resolve.

But in the case of recorded music, we're talking about three discrete realities: the music that was made and recorded; the recording (tape, digital file, whatever); and the actualization of the recording in the home environment.  How can the reality be the same for everyone?

noun

1. 1. the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power.

A definition of Art.
”appreciated primarily for their beauty and emotional power”
Does this not define the enjoyment of our electronic recreation of music? Reality is not at issue. Appreciation is.

@mijostyn   Your post presupposes that reality exists autonomously, independent of everyone's apprehension of it. I'll leave that one to @hilde45 to resolve.

Since the listener is part of an interactive system with the music-recording-reproduction circuit, it's all real. 

As for independent reality existing, how would we know? ;-) 

It is really subjective. My brother is perfectly happy listening to his 250 tunes from the speaker in his iPhone 6s. If it makes him happy, that’s all that should matter. Me on the other hand, like to explore new and different equipment and music. For instance, I just added a SVS subwoofer to my HT system. Probably will be buying a second soon.

All the best.

JD