Is this when you have "arrived??"

That sounds like a wonderful moment. Thanks for sharing. I only wish a great setup and great music (and maybe a great deal) were all it took to make me--and apparently your guest--feel as strongly. There are, for better or worse, other factors involved, as Ghosthouse says.

It has happened to me once or twice. The most embarrassing time was when I installed a budget system I had purchased for a friend and played it for the first time. She wanted to hear Joni Mitchell singing "Both Sides Now". (Gee, with that song, maybe I should have seen it coming.)

We didn't know each other as well as all that so when the tears started to flow I felt pretty awkward. The system was a Rotel RCD-855, a Harman-Kardon HK630 from the 70s, and a pair of Energy 2.1s mounted on the wall.

Nice move Tobias.

'there's no crying in audio...unless ups did a number of your stuff.'

Ghosthouse, you "object"

What is it you object to?

I find it funny that there are a number of posts to the negative on this. Are you trying to suck the life out of others? Do you get angry if others feel joy?

You think a painter from the 1800's, when optometry may not have been as advanced as it is today, who finally got a pair of spectacles that allowed him to see his work clearly for the first time never shed a tear?
Someone hiking the Appalachian Trail who saw their first cloud cover dissipate to uncover a flawless valley with a herd of whitetails running below with a roaring stream in the distance, never shed a tear from the simple beauty of the moment?

You do not think a passage of music, truly heard clearly for the first time cannot produce this kind of emotion?

If you cannot understand how this can happen to someone, stop coming to this site, by a Bose Waveradio and take up beer can collecting.

The LP12 must surely be the most classic piece of hi-fi.Ever.
Music should always move the soul. Just imagine a live performance, you may require a mop and bucket. Nothing wrong with showing a bit of emotion.