I’m confused. Please explain.

Relevance or Irrelevance based on the category of listener

1) Musicians who genuinely care about how their instruments sound during playback:

Relevant

2) Mastering Technicians

Irrelevant

3) Musicians who are about ...'get it over with dude, i need to get paid, got bills to pay'

Irrelevant

4) Audiophiles:

Irrelevant

5) General Masses/Non-Audiophiles:

Irrelevant

+1 Ron, a fool's errand  

I own a very nice hand-built acoustic guitar. It's a gorgeous sounding instrument.  

When I listen to my modest system, do I compare its presentation of acoustic guitars to the"live" sound of my Boucher?  No. Never.  Being emotionally and physically engaged by the music is my top priority.

I started out with a cheap transistor radio in bed every night. In my teens,when my love for music exponentially intensified, I had a $99.00 component system. My enjoyment of music is not fundamentally dependant upon sound. I've regularly sat in friend's listening rooms,listening to systems much, much more expensive than mine and my experience of the music is not "better" than when I'm at home. 

I guess this puts me in the "good enough" category. 

@hifiguy42

"I would guess I'm an outlier, but I actually don't enjoy most (in person) live music."

I get it.  At my age, I've discovered that the proximity of the Port-A-Potty(s) is the number one priority for me at live events.  Yes, even higher than sound quality.  The "coolness" of the commemorative T-shirt may be a strong 2nd.

I own a very nice hand-built "boutique" acoustic guitar. It sounds wonderful -- the best by far of the many acoustic and electric guitars I’ve owned in 50 years of playing.

So, it goes without saying that, when I’m listening music, I’m stringently analyzing how well my system presents the sound of acoustic guitars compared to my Boucher.

No.

I don’t expect that of my system and it’s not a problem. I guess I’m firmly in the "good enough" camp.

I suppose, had my exposure to music been on a high-end system from the very beginning, I might believe emotional engagement was a function of sonics but that wasn’t the case. I started with transistor radio and graduated to a $99 component system in high school, by which time music had become a hugely important focus for me (this was before I’d started playing).