How do you get the "real" feel of music?

You need speakers with a fast response, which go down low and which move a lot of air...and for those rimshots ...don't laugh...a tweeter,( and a good midrange driver of course ) which can handle real fast transients.

Zaike, I respect your opinion greatly and I grant you, that Sasha's post can be read and interpreted exactly as you indeed did, but I preferred to concentrate on the points he stressed to listen for, which possibly, as you stated, is "stock stuff", which however I find rarely mentioned here with the emphasis I feel they should have. I rather doubt, that many people realise, that their systems, good as they may be, simply cannot faithfully reproduce the dynamics within the entire musical spectrum of a given piece of music and I agree with Sasha, that only if you get that more or less right, apart from the other things he mentions, your rig will begin to sound musical in the sense of live music played in a real space. Not identical to, of course, but coming closer......
I did also wonder about Sasha's choice of wires, although I would agree with him, that cables are important to get your system to sing. It is probably also "stock stuff" that there are some people around, steeped in the experience of live music, who are able to set up a 5k system and make it sound better that stereos 20 times its cost. I've heard that happen more than once and I don't doubt, that you would agree with me in that point as well. So I wonder, what really irked you and tickled your sarcasm. Sasha's narcissism? His pride in his customer's "love"? Come on, Zaike, these pages are full of that sort of thing in one way or another. His point, that apart from speaker design, there has not been a real breakthrough in electronic design? Whatever, although I do see your argument, I still wonder, what was it that got your back up and I still contend, that Sasha's points are well made and although stock stuff indeed, they should be mentioned again and again, because they are so important. What I still find beautiful in his post is his obvious love for music, so I forgave him that little bit of selflove, because sometimes I'm tempted to think, that music lovers are a rare breed amongst audiophiles.....
Cheers,

Zaike, LOL, and sorry Bruce, brother in arms as far as old Sash is concerned, I am one mind with Z. as far as that Galbraith disk is concerned. I found it plainly musically uninvolving. We all hear and perceive differently, have different tastes and we all have EGOS. Lest those go entirely centerstage, I suggest we change the subject and get back to the music and Beatle63's concerns.......

Sasha, what a beautiful post! When I started reading, I thought, prepared to be bored, well just another case of opinionated, self declared "expert" gibberish, however, what a joy, far, far from it! You are the first I've met, who openly stated, what I have also felt for quite some time, that apart from the hype, climbing to ever greater heights, there have been no essential breakthroughs in electronic design in the last 10 to 15 years. And yes, assembling a system which comes close to the real thing, you must be prepared to enter a labour of love which lasts for decades and actually never really ends....and you must know what the real thing sounds like. You must know it so intimately, that it is sort of engrained in your very being. Only then are you able to listen "right" and only then you will be in the position to appreciate the truth in every word you say, as regards speakers, wires, p.-conditioners et al...and the love for music, which is behind it all. As you say, dynamic range and presence from one end of the frequency sprectrum to the other, as well as what you call symmetry, are the things to strive for. It can be done, but in order to achieve this, you must both know and love live music in all its forms. Thanks Sasha for breaking you silence and sharing your experience with us! Cheers,

Thanks Zaikesman for again stating your points. I now understand better and I do agree with your statement about S's deus ex machina attitude. That was indeed uncalled for. For the rest I still beg to differ somewhat, for the simple reason that those "wornout warhorses", which indeed they are for the cognoscenti, still belong to the category of unknown species to many students of our hobby. By the way, what do you think makes for a "good" audiophile and where would you put the emphasis? Technical savvy? Golden ears? An inventive, experimentative attitude?
"Melomanie"? An open mind, ready to learn? Probably all of it and then some....Cheers,