How much reality do you really need?

@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

rvpiano, letting the struggle to achieve the absolute sound or whatever sound you are looking for ruin your enjoyment of music would be IMHO dysfunctional. If you are unhappy with your system, fix it. Don't get mad at the music.
twoleftears, you are exactly right. The sun rises in the east and sets in the west. That is a reality no one can change. You and I can argue about the definition of east and west but the reality does not change. How you react to that reality or how that reality affects your life is another topic. 
HiFi systems exist to play back music. How well they function in that regard is a continuum from terrible to wonderful. The problem is defining where your system exists on that continuum. That evaluation is further clouded by the differences in perception between us and our lack of language to quantify what we hear. My experience with the best systems is that everyone that hears them readily agrees that these systems are incredible. I interpret this phenomenon to mean that locked in us is the experience of live music and when we hear it we recognize it right away.
All or enough of the ques are present to convince you you are listening to a live performance. This seems to apply to everyone that has gone to live performances.  

 mglik - Isn't appreciation a function of the motivation and experience of the listener? I.e., the more you put into it the more you get out of it?

dweller - This is usually the case. I know that each improvement in my system brings more appreciation and enjoyment. The upgrade process seems never ending and many who put more and more into their systems not only experience diminishing returns but find that their "improvement", at times, spoils the sound and the experience.
But, mostly, one never imagines that the SQ can be better until they hear the effect of their upgrade. And, IME, price usually can be paralleled with quality.