does a stereo system sound like live music ?

Mrtennis: Not to belabor this pointless discussion, but there are indeed very reliable methods to objectively determine accuracy. Talented speaker designers do this all of the time. They certainly would not rely on the judgment of a person who has a difficult time distinguishing between a "$350 Brookstone personal stereo" -- whatever that is -- and a true reference system. I stand by my post as written. Enjoy your boom box and don't give it another nonsensical thought.

And of course Dr. Pingpong is not even considering that his beloved 'live' music is but a pale instantiation of the infinite variety of potential much superior performances inferred by the composer's musical score. In turn the score is but a pale instantiation of the original musical thought conceived by the composer. Hence applying the odd syllogistic pingpongism, the recorded performance is at least three order of magnitude inherently inferior to the original abstract musical conception. As a former classical music composer this inherent superiority of what's in my mind fills me with undisguised pride and gloting. Yet, as a lover of beauty, wherever it may be found, I just know that this is just a bunch of unadulterated hogwash! Which just reminds me, I better run and reconnect my system, after todays glorious audio extravaganza at Arnie's (Babybear) place. Just listening to the Music Of The Spheres in the depth of my mind is just not for me any longer.. . and how many times did I repeat the word 'just' just in this post?

Guidocorona, probably too many times. But that is just the way you are. Oops, I said it too.

if there are reliable ethods to objectively detrmine accuracy, the question is accuracy to what ? is the reference live music, in which case how do you compare the sound of a recording through a stereo system to the sound of the instrument themselves ?

if the reference is the recording, how can you verify the accuracy of the stereo system relative to a recording when the sound of a recording is unknown as well as that of the components which comprise the stereo system.

its fine to make statements but you have no evidence to back them.

you are again providing evidence that this endeavor is indedd subjective and not objective as you state.

in addition , 9rw, you have misinterpreted what i said. i did not say that there was no difference sonically between a $350 personal stereo and an expensive stereo.

there is a difference, sonically.

finally my experience listening to 100s of stereo system and a good set of ears obviously is the basis for evaluating stereo systems.

but i realize that what constitutes a reference system is subject to disagreement, because it tooo is a matter of opinion.

no. never will

but i postulate that it aint the playback system it's the recording that has the main effect. Especially multi channel mixed stuff where the engineer gets to monkey with things so that they bear no resemblance to the balance that you would experience live. I say this because playing recorded music back through a PA don't sound like live music. Live music is the result of a bunch of independent sources interacting whith each other and the room creating a stage volume which may be further altered by shoving it all through the board and effects and then the mains and then into the room. no way can that be recreated, even multichannel. even solo instruments aren't accurately recorded IMO. the dynamics and texture of my 40 watt guitar amp would challange about any system to reproduce it due to what goes south in the recording process.

When building or evaluating a system one can shoot for more realistic accurate timbres on the instruments, which are much more pleasing through a high dollar rig than a cheap one. You get way more details out of a high dollar rig than a cheap one. The artificial soundstage on a well set up high dollar rig provides an interesting environment to escape into. This last factor is most important for me.

As to musicians not caring about high dollar gear most musicians i know dig a good system but they tend to have GAS and don't make a lot of money. In a decisions between money poured into play back gear or source material which can be used to advance their playing the source material wins. A bass player friend of mine has 11 peach crates of LPs and thousands of cds all played through a cheap reciever/CD system with old bookshelf speakers and a 30 yr old turntable. All his money goes to music.