does a stereo system sound like live music ?

I agree with Bigjoe, live events are to be enjoyed & have little to do with critical listening unless you have been an active Audiogon member for many years & you find yourself evaluating every source of music. I caught myself one time evaluating my car stereo, thinking it sounded pretty darn good but lacked in transparency however I quickly reminded how ridiculous this is.

Years ago was a simpler time for myself when ignorance was bliss. I wasn't concerned with audiophile terms like soundstaging, imaging, transparency, etc. It was the music & only the music. Now with more experience, the genie is out of the bottle, there is no going back, but once again I want to be more focused on the music & less focused on critical listening if thats possible.

Anyway a stereo system will never sound like live music and as Bigjoe mentioned some people wouldn't have it any other way.

I remember one reviewer wrote, what digital sources like CD have done to music is borderline criminal and that these sources have failed to reproduce the original recording faithfully, rearranging the music in an artificial way. Furthermore any gear in question and its reproduction of music should be evaluated based on pure musical enjoyment & not the adjectives that most audiophiles use to descibe a satisfactory system. I also believe he prefered mono as opposed to stereo reproduction, no doubt old school & purely analog.

Anyhow, this thread brought to mind an old ad: "Is it Memorex or is it live".

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