Home HiFi better than Live?

My least favorite musical experience is listening to a "Live" CD. Its the crappy amplification and often times sub par musical performance without all of the magic of a good live show.

Your quote:

"I have been to numerous concerts and never ever get the feeling that the performers are performing for me alone as I do in my own system. I feel alot more emotional involvement from the entertainers in concerts but I don't feel it is any better sound than my HiFi at home."

You clearly don't get what a concert is about. By wanting to be "alone" with the artist you miss the energy and excitement of several (thousand) others around you that love the music. I think I know the answer to these but don't you love the kick of the bass drum amplified through several thousand watts of amplification? Don't you notice that the chrome microphone stands just sparkle? Isn't it cool when the artist stops singing and 15,000 of your new best friends keep singing right along? Isn't it cool when Robert Plant sings "Stairway to Heaven" and you watch him as he does it? I could go home right now and listen to it on my $40,000 stereo and it'll be nothing like watching Led Zeppelin in Madison Square Garden.

It probably doesn't stop there as you probably would rather watch a playoff game on TV than be at the stadium with the fanatics. I was there when our hockey team beat the Russians in the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics and although I still get goose bumps when I see it replayed on TV it is NOTHING like what it was like being in that arena - the building was shaking!!!

Too bad that you don't share in the excitement - you are really missing something. Try to see the forrest for the trees.

I think live music and home hifi are two totally different experiences, enjoyable in their own way. The same way I believe that studio albums do not have to try to recreate a live concert, but can be their own medium.
That said I do like my hifi and my albums to sound like live music as much as possible.

I read through all the above posts, and to me Seaandtaylor99 (just above) said it all for me-- "two totally different experiences"-- and both are enjoyable. Seeing and hearing Buddy Guy live though-- crappy acoustics and all-- was a great, but once in a lifetime, experience for me! Cheers. Craig

My goal is to get out and listen to live music at least once a week: mostly acoustic "folk" music, bluegrass, country, blues in a small venue. I prefer the local bar or coffehouse where I can sit where I want to sit for the best sound, if I get there early enough. The sound varies depending on where you stand in the room. I do not prefer venues where there are rows of seats, assigned or not - I can not move around to find the best sound.
In live music situations where I can move around and sit or stand where I want to sit or stand, I always enjoy the sound better than the sound of my stereo. (I also like to drink a beer when I listen to live music, which is why I prefer the bar scene.)
Back when I lived in Dallas, I would go to the Honky Tonks, ("Cowboys", Country 2000, Red River, the Top Rail) and would pay ten dollars to hear a "big name country star": Leroy Parnell, Steve Wariner, Gary Stewart, Exile, Rick Trevino.... There was the stage, and in front of the stage was the dance floor where people would stand to watch and listen, and people would dance behind the listeners. I could move about the dance floor, and I found the place where the vocals were the clearest and that is where I would stand. If I stood somewhere else, the vocals would be muddled. In a bar or club or honky tonk type venue, the quality of the sound depends on where you stand. I never went to the famous "Billy Bob's" honky tonk in Ft. Worth, because of the assigned seating up by the stage, and I could not stand where I could hear quality sound. I went to hear Gary Stewart once at Billy Bobs, and the sound and experience was so mediocre, I never went back there again.
So to answer the origional post, I prefer live music over my stereo, especially if I can move around the venue and not have an "assigned" seat.