How to get the impact of a live concert?

Roxy54 - Scottsdale

it sucks that you have to pay for an astronomically-priced Focal, Kharma, Wilson, Rockport, etc. speaker system. but with adequate amplification with the right sources AND a well damped room, you CAN get (95% of) the impact of a concert performance. but it is extremely rare to come by an audio store that is willing to put that kind of a system on display. the day i got a glimpse of what is possible, on the other side of the room the Wilson WAMM speakers were placed was a Goldmund Reference turntable, and a rack of some of the best and most exotic gear available at the time. the speakers were driven by a pair of Levinson 20.6 class-a monoblocks and a bridged-mono bryston amp for the subwoofers (2 X 18 in. in 6 foot tall cabinets) . the room was magic whatever they played in it.
i'm no expert but high-end audio at the extreme end of the scale is pretty phenominal if it's set up correctly.

I'd personally feel a little weird sitting alone in a huge room in my McMansion with huge speakers driven by mega watt amps...listening to my fave little jazz trios? I'd have to get a smoking jacket or something...Bach cello suites blasting away...really? I'm seeing Sonny Landreth at a cool local venue this weekend...seen him before and he's amazing...but I don't want Sonny and his band in my hifi room. I like his recorded stuff plenty, but live is to be seen live, and I enjoy the difference.

I don't think there is any way to acheive live music dynamics in a home environment. As you said large speakers and big power will likely get you the closest if thats what you seek. A sub or two may help if your current speakers are bass deficient, but speakers are designed with a delicate balance and a sub will mess with that. I still prefer sound quality to huge dynamics that always come with high DB levels.