What is Musicality?

I think musicality has to do with the ability to express heart and soul, the ability to express a certain feeling and convey it in a way that listeners feel or relate to that same feeling. Musicality is expression of what is within one's self through the medium of melody and harmony, and different musicians have different levels of accomplishment, as well as simply having different interpretations of a piece, that is all subjectively enjoyed by each audience member. No person in the audience perceives the performance the exact same way, with some preferring other artists, techniques, or styles, none of which is right nor wrong, simply preferred.

I believe that the most 'musical' system is that which does not lose any information from the media it obtained it from, since the system itself is not expressing anything in and of itself, but simply reproducing that which was provided. Still, technique to an artist is not necessarily musicality (though it does provide better ability to express it), and likewise detail, soundstaging and perfect frequency response does not guarantee a 'musical' system.

I have heard live performances that were technically flawless, but inspired no emotion from me, and have heard performances where notes were missed but I still cried. The same has happened for me with systems, some sounding great in technical regards yet I am unmoved, while others may not accomplish all the 'audiophile' requirements but still grip me. I believe that this is the conundrum we all discuss, and all try to solve in our own systems with our own list of priorities of what makes up 'musicality'. Everybody's lists are most assuredly ordered differently, judging by the systems put together here!

I think for most audio enthusiast, musicality is LOVING what you hear without getting tired or fatigued by it where it moves you with emotion. Maybe I should attach a SHIATSU massager on my audio system, I just might find MUSICALITY out of that!

Musicality starts when you seek new music material and enjoy it.

Musicality stops when you seek new equipment because you are unable to enjoy the music.

In terms of audio components, it seems as though many but not all audiophiles are attempting to create a live atmosphere and an emotional experience that is dependent on the quality of certain chosen electronics. So that in itself negates the argument of recreating a sonic moment in time, when and where the musician/s played his or her instrument. I can take a high quality photograph which will communicate a feeling or an understanding but it will never be more than a photograph. Hi end audio is a great thing and achieving higher standards will never end but have you ever tried having a conversation with your amplifier?
Musicality is also a language but I still believe that it's better where there is flesh and blood. That's my standard.

Musicality naturally evolves from familiar musical scales and familiar sounding instruments. Instruments in turn mimick our voices and other interesting natural sounds, emotionally.

My "objective" music system allows me to access and to reach much further into the "subjective emotional performance". The moving emotional drive within the performance is the holy grail of musicality.

Delivering music at home is a triad to me. It starts with the musician's emotional performances, then, the engineers' recording quality, and then onto a well-matched audio system.

Musicality is something like driving a great sports car and feeling one with the roads, or, feeling one with the music, verses admiring the car parked away at a distance. The true holy grail is the changing emotional connections to the road only felt best from behind the wheel. Great musicality is a emotional connection to music that draws me to modern short tunes, or a longer journey like a great album or a jaw-dropping fabulous symphony.