As most posters have concluded, attaining a "live" reproduction is improbable. The attack, air movement, delicacy, etc. is something I have never heard fully replicated. The system I presently own is most musical with a good deal of detail, and yet, following any live performance, acoustic or amplified, I invariably experience a sense of simpatico and disappoinment.
All the time and money invested has brought the illusion closer, and conversely further from a real event. Earlier in the week I attended a music festival with a variety of music, all amplified. I predominately spent the evening listening to Lucinda Williams. The drive and power is unapproachable. Two days later I popped on the new live vinyl of Williams' new lp. Good sound, yes, but not even close to what I heard Sunday.
Jeffreybehr, I relate to your dilemma. I try to deal with it often. Every new component or tweak is going to be the one. Within days the affair wears off. My wife has more than once suggested the ease of a Bose system. Just relax and groove to the music. No sweet spot. No discriminate listening. No Audiogon. A radical consideration.
All the time and money invested has brought the illusion closer, and conversely further from a real event. Earlier in the week I attended a music festival with a variety of music, all amplified. I predominately spent the evening listening to Lucinda Williams. The drive and power is unapproachable. Two days later I popped on the new live vinyl of Williams' new lp. Good sound, yes, but not even close to what I heard Sunday.
Jeffreybehr, I relate to your dilemma. I try to deal with it often. Every new component or tweak is going to be the one. Within days the affair wears off. My wife has more than once suggested the ease of a Bose system. Just relax and groove to the music. No sweet spot. No discriminate listening. No Audiogon. A radical consideration.