does a stereo system sound like live music ?

Terrific. Go for it.

I absolutely disagree.
I have heard live music many times where the acoustics were not good and actually enjoyed my reproduced sound far more. It also depends where you are sitting. For example, in Carnegie Hall, some seats allow you to hear the music much beter than others. Of course, there is nothing quite like live music where the acoustics are excellent. However, I get tremendous enjoyment from my system and would say that it recreates way way more than 10% of what live music sounds like, especially on good recordings. You also get a heightened sense of being closer to the instruments and hearing more details and a greater sense of space and depth on a super system, although it may be exaggerated compared to live. Your 10% rule may have applied many years ago in the infancy of audio.
If you think that the Brookstone stereo sounds closer to most stereo systems than most stereos sound compared to live, you may be right because most stereos are not too good and not set up properly to get the maximum performance. Of course there are those other systems that and magic and very enjoyable even compared to live.

And what was the point of this thread?