Nice posts - many audiophiles do indeed go for a system that is "too detailed", to use the OP's phrase. Most orchestral musicians who are also audiophiles tend to have systems that have good soundstaging and imaging and are on the warmer side, so it sounds closer to how it does in the concert hall. They also tend to prefer horns (or electrostats) in the speaker department, and tend to prefer tube amplification to solid-state - tubes generally have more accurate resolution of instrumental and vocal timbres, which is an even more important consideration of many musicians. I have found that these types of systems also reproduce the piano better as well.
The bass issue is a fascinating one to me. As the OP says, bass is often not as defined in the concert hall as it is in many high-end systems, especially those incorporating subwoofers. I personally have yet to hear a system incorporating a subwoofer that actually sounds like live, orchestral music. I think too many people have gotten used to the over-amplified sounds of electronic instruments at rock concerts and the very un-lifelike sounds of many of today's recording mixes, and they expect to hear that same type of sound when they listen to acoustic instruments, having lost touch with what live acoustic music actually sounds like in a good hall.
As Shadorne correctly says, though, much of this also has to do with the individual recording engineers and what they do. Many audiophiles don't really have any idea how great an effect they have. They are attempting what is truly an impossible task, and every one of them does it differently, especially in this digital age. Mixing all those separate microphones into something even remotely resembling the original is almost impossible, and tends to remove much of the ambient noise of the concert hall itself, another reason why the result doesn't sound like live music.
OK, I've typed enough - time to go to bed.
The bass issue is a fascinating one to me. As the OP says, bass is often not as defined in the concert hall as it is in many high-end systems, especially those incorporating subwoofers. I personally have yet to hear a system incorporating a subwoofer that actually sounds like live, orchestral music. I think too many people have gotten used to the over-amplified sounds of electronic instruments at rock concerts and the very un-lifelike sounds of many of today's recording mixes, and they expect to hear that same type of sound when they listen to acoustic instruments, having lost touch with what live acoustic music actually sounds like in a good hall.
As Shadorne correctly says, though, much of this also has to do with the individual recording engineers and what they do. Many audiophiles don't really have any idea how great an effect they have. They are attempting what is truly an impossible task, and every one of them does it differently, especially in this digital age. Mixing all those separate microphones into something even remotely resembling the original is almost impossible, and tends to remove much of the ambient noise of the concert hall itself, another reason why the result doesn't sound like live music.
OK, I've typed enough - time to go to bed.