Help with System Musicality

Thanks everyone for your input so far. What I miss the most is that 3d image that puts the artist in the room with you as though you're at the performance. By coincidence I got turned on to a group of local audiophiles with much deeper pockets than mine. I had the opportunity to go, listen and pickup a pair of Antique Sound Labs Cadenza DT 845 Mono amps. Upon first listen last night they were no where near as transparent as the Edge G8+ I have...makes me appreciate them even more. BUT, these babies image like crazy. I've yet however to check bias, etc. Unfortunately war made listening a lesser priority so I got rid of my "dream" system at the time, but I'm determined to return to the magic. It is hard to qualify the sound I'm looking for, bu as A former classical pianist a(in my youth) and stints in jazz and R&B bands in the seventies, I always listen for an emotional connection when I listen. I want the music to touch my emotions as well as my mind. Hard to describe, but I've heard this a few times with some systems.

Before you spend a lot of $$$ it might be that a Schumann Resonator could move the system in the direction you want to go. Acoustic Revive has the RR-777 and Kemp has the SR Plug. There are also units on E-Bay from other sources. I am using the older Acoustic Revive RR-77 in one of my systems and I would not want to be without it. I have tried and use a variety of high-end tweaks, but the Schumann unit has probably made the most difference in what I define as 'musicality'.

Couple years ago, a group of audiobuddies and I, all experienced listeners with high def systems, visited one of our kind who had just bought a RR-777. We spent quite a while trying to hear what he said he heard and there were many A/B comparisons. Not saying he DIDN'T hear it, but it was awfully subtle. I'm not sure whether he still uses it or not.

You sound like an experienced audiophile but I have to ask...

Have you exhausted set up possibilities, i.e. speakers far out into the room, triangulated listening position/speaker location, wall treatments, toe in, etc? A few inches can make a big difference.

I find that a lot of guys just locate replacement speakers where the last speakers worked well and assume that is the best location. Unfortunately it doesn't work that way too often.