Fidelity vs. Musicality...........Is there a tug of War?

If it sounds good it is good. 

“Fidelity is Musicality”! Surely one can dissect the sound from an audiophile perspective. But I choose not to “tear apart the flower”.
By doing so, the flower is no longer beautiful.
Admittedly, I do take note of the imaging. But am very fortunate to have a system that is able to create a suspension of disbelief.
And that term brings me to a central element of the difference of a live performance. Amplified or not, disbelieve is not at issue.
THE central element of a live performance is that there are human beings. Not an electronic recreation. No matter how much fidelity/musicality of a system, it cannot recreate a live experience.

If instruments sound the way I think they should,  that is an accurate system that is enjoyable, therefore musical.

When I go to a concert I can enjoy not so good fidelity if the performance and live experience are good enough. Not at home.

For me it's like comparing cars. A Lotus will be an exciting ride, but you probably wouldn't want it as an everyday driver. A BMW gives you a more comfortable ride and is still very enjoyable. 

So the uber revealing system is the Lotus, it will thrill you when the conditions are right...and perhaps irritate you when they're not. The BMW is the "musical" system that always aims to please. 

The unicorn is a system that can do both. Me personally, I started off in pursuit of the Lotus, but after 30 years have comfortably settled on a more balanced system that I enjoy immensely....all the time.

I think the problem for a lot of folks is that they believe a "better" system will always make the music sound better. When in reality it can actually be the opposite.

So the car analogy may be stupid to some, but I think it's a very accurate way to look at this. Everyone loves that shiny sports car...but do you really want one. It's all about balance.

Tim