What does listening to a speaker really tell us?

PBB, I didn't forget you. One of the basics of sound reproduction and perception is that the ear's sensitivity to frequencies changes with the sound pressure level. Ever notice that there's a just-right playback volume? For example, below that level there's not enough bass, above it there's too much. That's your ear at work. In the context of this thread this means that the elusive wild goose of transparency can only occur at one volume setting for each recording. At all others the perfect system will sound out of balance, and so by definition, non-transparent.

Absolutely, Rockvirgo!
For this reason, in a practical sense, I'd rate a remote volume control more important than a "technically superior" one in most circumstances.
There seems always to be the "right volume", although the best systems seem somehow to work in a wider range of "close enough".

This is not a pipe.(The picture says,wanting to convey that it is a picture of a pipe.) If it makes you hallucinate the aroma of tobacco, if it gives you a nicotine-like rush,it's a good picture(maybe),but it's still not a pipe.

Music is a time art.Once performed,it is gone,never to be experienced again. We can replay it,if it was recorded;but live music and recorded music are two different things.

(turning up the gain,listening to a recording of the Max Roach/Clifford Brown Quintet,wishing everybody a good morning.)

My question would be, if you can't tell what it sounds like when you listen to it, then how else could you tell?

We already know that no stereo system, no matter how good, actually reproduces the live event totally. Nor is there any recording sytem that captures it totally.

So, what we are after is what sounds the most lifelike possible, to us, and in our price range.

Or, in some cases, like your analogy supposes, there are some who would prefer some other "interpretations" or colorations to the presentation.

In any case, it is what the system sounds like to the owner which is most important to him. This makes "listening" the paramount benchmark of performance.

For the folks who still may have leanings towards a reliance upon flat-earth science to dictate to them some kind of objective reality that is outside of themselves: Didn't you guys pay attention in your high school Quantum Physics class? We just watched the film, "What the Bleep do We Know?" last night and it brought to mind just exactly what I'm trying to say in my posts. Though it is pretty corny in its filmmaking and writing, it is a very worthy film for anyone to see because it does put the science of Quantum Physics / Quantum Mechanics on a very basic and easy to understand level, and certainly one that connects with each and every one of us (pun intended). One of the fundamental ideas presented is the tremendous powers of the human mind to create/alter our own reality. The film just recently came out on DVD after a long run in theatres. Anyone who's interested in life should go out and rent it. In spite of being corny I bet it will hold your interest start to finish.

Marco