So, a reviewer just said something I need to talk about.

I still use early Rod Stewart and Van Morrison recordings to judge my system changes for this very reason…those records convey both a high quality of sonic representation, AND a joy of musical spontaneity that engages and excites me.  “Cut Across Shorty” with its driving drums and 12 string, “Domino” with its Stax/Volt vibe and rhythmic drive, for example. I also need to play “Kucano Oro” from MA Recordings ‘Old Country’ for its ultra-audiophile recording of Howard Levy, Mark Nauseff, and Miroslav Tadic performing unbelievable musical feats.  All these groups can be enjoyed at “loud enough” but not actual live music levels in one’s living room.

_dalek_ wrote:

'So much is written about recreating the experience of having the music performers standing in front of you in your listening room."

Yes, but I think it's important to distinguish between "illusion" and "reality."  It would take a system of exceptional power and resolution to truly recreate a live (or studio) performance.  But even a modest system should give you "the whole picture" as much as possible.  I've heard modest systems that can do that.  I particularly recall a pair of Nestorovich speakers in a well-tuned room that did a very good job of projecting the performers in real space, though certainly not with real-world dynamics.

I'm not interested in reproducing a live gig in my home; I'm interested in getting the best I can (with what I can afford) from what the producer put on the recording. The same live performance can sound completely different depending on the listening/recording vantage point. 

You are talking about two separate issues. I can listen to Maria Caras sing on terrible old recordings and still be brought to tears. The artistry of the musician will shine through terrible sound.

Sound quality is a different issue. Saying violins sound like violins is a tautology. It means absolutely nothing. What I am looking for in sound quality is, with a good recording, the feeling that I am in front of a real instrument or orchestra/band. That takes the right amplitude response for the volume, the capability to image  3 dimensional objects in space with blackness between and powerful bass response below 100 Hz. The Dave Holland Quintet albums are a great example of recordings that can fool you into thinking you are in front of the band on a good system. I have seen the band three times at the Regatta Bar in Boston's Charles Hotel. Those recordings image that band perfectly.

The three octaves below 100 Hz are incredibly important to the visceral sensation of live music. In a residential setting 20 to 40 Hz has to be EQed up at least 6 dB with a low Q to approach the kind of power you get in a live setting. 

What about the engagement between the listener and the musician.

If I am not actually there at the live event, it is the quality of the recording and the quality of the system that the recording played back on, that dictate the level of my engagement with the musician(s). Everyone should be entitled to listen for, and enjoy, whatever it is that floats their boat, but if I play a good revealing recording of a performance in which the artist had a few warts going on, and my system is lays that bare, for me, that is a win.

If I play a poor recording of music I like by an artist I like, I’d probably rather not be listening to it on a revealing system.