How do you know when a stereo sounds good?

When I am enjoying the music and not the system. A lot of people will refer to this as “when the speakers disappear and all you hear is the music ”. You sound like you are entering the cheating stage of audiofile. You are in love with music but a new sexy “system” is giving you a look and you start to wander and think that an affaire with “system” will be fun and “music” will never find out. Don’t overthink and and step over to the dark side. Enjoy the music and appreciate what you have.

When what you hear makes you realize just how brilliant the music and musicianship are -- that the skill and artistry of composers and musical performers sufficiently justifies humanity, despite so much of all the rest.

Of course, the music and musicianship need to be pretty great for that to happen.

hilde45

You said: "It's like asking the question, "Am I in pain?" That's not a question I can make sense of without some kind of science fiction scenario." Can you elaborate on that paragraph? I don't understand what you are trying to say. I know I'm in pain from the time my feet hit the floor in the morning, but that's from playing competitive basketball for 40 years.

Oh I see. Appears the point of this thread and loaded question apparently was to assert what we like is completely subjective which means anything goes just because. Got it! Mr Denney and his Synergistic company got that covered in spades! Where can I buy the stock?

My first little "system" was an 8 track player that apparently had an amplifier and a couple of speakers.  What did I know, I was a teenage kid.  All I knew was that I could listen to the music I liked in my bedroom and not have to listen to the country music my parents listened to, or all the commercials on the radio.  It pleased me. 

Over time, my systems have continued to improve in sound quality.  Why do I need to "conclusively prove" that my system sounds good to me?  Could it be better?  Yes, of course.  Is it good enough?  For now.  Am I spending time obsessing over what little thing I could do to eke out that extra bit of sound or spending time listening to music?  I prefer the latter.

Listening to my system is one of the things I look forward to most, so it clearly pleases me.