What sonic qualities connects to you deeply and emotionally?

Vibes, saxophone and acoustic guitar.

Sometimes lyrics; the line from Wichita Lineman for example:

"And I need you more than want you, and I want you for all time"

This never fails to bring a tear; if lyrics were boxers, this lyric drops me to the canvas every time. The melody of the track is also instrumental in evoking this emotion.

Voices are also important to me. Some vocalists could sing the blurb from the back of a cereal box and evoke an emotional response; the late Mimi Parker of the band Low was one such artist

the warm embrace of early/mid-70s synth from Stevie Wonder's run of four magical albums: Music of My Mind, Talking Book, Innervisions, Fulfillingness First Finale and Songs In the Key of Life. 

Joni's voice, Zappa guitar solos, the part in "If I Fell" where Paul's voice cracks, the entirey of Zep's "Ten Years Gone", etc. If I had to pick one lyric, the line from Floyd's "Time" gets me every, erm, time: 

Tired of lying in the sunshine, staying home to watch the rain
You are young and life is long, and there is time to kill today
And then one day you find ten years have got behind you
No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun

devastating.
 

It can be almost anything that's done well at the right moment.  Vocals, strings, percussion, a haunting flute. 

Good vocals can be very moving, and there's something about a nice guitar solo that gets my attention.  I especially love the sound of a well recorded resonator guitar being played well.   

Venue acoustics -

• those little background echoes and reverberations
• they add the reality otherwise missing
• they provide the "height" of the venue

Regards - Steve