Strange phenomona this hobby.

Strange stuff indeed!

Forget live, you'll never get it. The best any of us can hope for is SOME of the aspects of a live performance in our playback systems. This is why we all say "listen for yourself". You're always going to be choosing the type and/or amount of colorations that most appeal to you. DougDeacon and I have almost identical analog systems, until you get to the speakers. That's seems to be the component that is most subjected to personal tastes and preferences. Seems strange on the face of it, but perhaps not when you consider we all diverge to some extent when it comes to the genre of music we each prefer and even what we may emphasis within a particular genre.

Then you take those components that sounded so good at the show or at some other place into your listening room and suddenly the magic isn't there. Or vice-versa.

Same with recommendations. We all ask for them, give them and listen to them to some extent. Some of the worst system performance I've experienced in my home has come from components and cables I've tried based on the high recommendation of others whose opinions I hold in high regard. Synergy is important.

On the flip side I've been able to make great improvements in my system based on feedback from people who hear my system. It is amazing to me that I, or anyone, can listen to their system day after day and be happy with the sound. Or maybe not quite sure what is missing, or just plain wrong. Then your friend comes in and within 5 minutes tells you exactly what is going on. Sometimes when this happens you begin to recognize what they were saying. Sometimes this happens right away, sometimes it hits you a few weeks later. Sometimes you can accept it and be happy, sometimes you go to the ends of the earth to correct it. Which sometimes only takes you back to square one.

Maybe it isn't any component or the system as a whole. Maybe it is the room interaction. Do you need acoustic treatments? Probably, but which ones and how many and where to place them?

But with so many other hobbies you can measure in some way the improvement or degradation of a change. In this hobby you can't always find a difference using test equipment or some other empirical data. The only test you have is how it sounds to you in your system in your listening room.

Strange stuff indeed! Sometimes it all makes my head hurt. That's when I try to stop thinking. I pull out an LP or CD that I know doesn't sound "audiophile" and just enjoy the reason I bought that music in the first place. I know I'll get back into the crazies tomorrow.

I think we're all a little self-delusional in this hobby. We have people who swear they are re-creating the ambiance of Carnegie hall in a 10x13 room with a 7 ft ceiling. Personally I like to pretend that Coleman Hawkins is blowing right there between my speakers....there in front of the TV.... didn't you hear that? He was there... I swear...

You can drive yourself nuts trying to capture that level of realism. But the alternative is worse. I hear that recovering audiophiles often take up bird watching.

Wonderful responses, and we all understand each other even though we have different taste or hear things differently.
If I may add, sometimes the very same component will sound different because of caps or resistors having slightly different values or solder work being slightly inconsistent. This hobby is better than competetive chess or brewing beer even more challenging than being a ski
instructor.
Dcstep
You may have misunderstood me. I meant that I heard systems such as the mbl's (3 times at the expos 2 of those times they sounded like the real thing way better than anything else at the show).
And I do go to the concert hall, my favorite genre is opera and I am fortunate enough to be so close to the met and that tickets can be had for under $30 if I blew my check on some silly component.
Enjoy the music.

I keep wondering why does the mbl system stand out. I believe it is because one thing they do well is image. I never will forget when hearing the beatles in their(mbl room at the expo) room. You could practically see the musicians.
Not only that, I like certain music and anything outside that doesn't do it much for me. Not that it's bad music, I don't believe any style of music is better than other styles. Though I still can't figure out rap? But get this- in the mbl room they were playing music I never cared for, and it sound great. I was thoroughly enjoying myself but I also found the music interesting. I could see myself discovering new styles. I think if only that, that is reason enough to seriously consider the mbl set. I would like to keep discovering new music, shouldn't that be a quest in life. Just like with food of different cuisines, I want to be inspired with new genres.
What other speakers taste eh hum image well?

As many have said, this hobby is quite complex and there are very few absolutes. In my history with the search for the perfect chord, i had thought i had found it many times before only to find (sometimes very minor) a tweak that dramatically improved the quality of the music. My most notable experience was a speaker change that really got me into this hobby over my head. I was one of those bose diehards who felt the bose system was innovative and could make music sound so good. I had a set of 601's and was saving for a set of 901's. I always bragged how good they sounded until I had a friend who brought over a set of
Klipsch speakers that I did a side by side on my equipment. The wow factor was present that day as all of my concepts about music changed. I could not believe the difference as well as what I was not hearing. Many years later i recognize however good i think my system sounds (and i do feel my system sounds great:^) there is a better system out there. My table is a highly modded Maplenoll that sports a zyx cartridge. I am working to audition some different phono stepups since i know those are my weak spot but i know even when I fill that hole, others will be apparent. Most of use will not be able to spend the amount of money required to have the perfect chord but its the pursuit of that chord that keeps us going.