Byegolly - I am with you 100%. I've been to quite a few club rock shows and the mixing (with the bass often being too loud) always left something to be desired. But that is apparently what is desirable since stereo equipment should reproduce the live event. And the plucked cellos/basses in many recordings sound much more vivid than live classical concerts. There is something strange going on in cultural terms with the reproduction of bass.
Bass rant
Does anyone else surmise that the minions weaned on exaggerated THX sound in sticky floored cineplex's, sold on window-shaking subwoofers in their motor vehicles, and subjected to hearing loss in loud stadium concerts - might have trouble understanding what constitutes an accurate bass guitar tone/timbre/volume? I read post after post on this and other forums of those decrying their systems lack of bass. While I grew up listening to a lot of live music in nightclubs and stadiums from Bobby Short at The Carlyle, to Yo Yo Ma and The Silk Road Ensemble, to John Fogerty at The Greek Theater, I believe I can differentiate the realism of an upright bass and one unnaturally amped (acoustic or electric), and yet I cannot understand all the bleeding over of the home theater systems exaggerated bass sound into many dedicated audiophile sound systems. Please educate me.