When did you ever hear a system sound so life-like

I've heard systems come close, but never hit the mark. It is almost completely dependent on the recording, so much so that the system may be less important than we think.

Found a pic from one of these Turntables
(System 2)

About 25 years back.At a dealer I heard Pacific Overtures being played on a Well Tempered turntable and tonearm with an original Benz cartridge.The electronics were all ARC and the speakers were the original B&W 801.
This was the closest to live that I have ever heard.
I've heard other Lps played in this same room with this same system and never felt the sound approached live.
So was it the recording....

The only time this has happened for me was upon first hearing a system comprised of a Shindo Garrard 301 TT, Shindo pre and Shindo monoblocks, and the larger Shindo Latours. That system nails lifelike for every type of music except for large scale, e.g., orchestral. And it is still awfully good for large scale music as well.

I've visited a lot of high end Hi-fi stores in my lifetime, and have heard very good playback systems that have come close... but ultimately no cigar awarded when compared to a live performance.