Has anyone ever cried listening to your system

Cyclonicman, I believe you are right when you say, ". . . most people on the planet have a greater emotional response to visual rather than auditory stimulus."
And that, ". . . emotional responses are linked to the human situation, such as love, forgiveness, sacrifice."
I further agree that my emotional response to music is due my perceived emotional connection to a given musician's expression of his/her humanity (the "human situation")--such as love, forgiveness, sacrifice, etc. expressed through his/her music.
That's what I hinted at when I said, "I want to hear the smiles on their faces."

I once listened to a musical trilogy in D Minor, the saddest of all keys. I weeped instantly when I heard it. I don't know why.

Some people are into this hobby for the equipment, some for the music, some both. I don't think there is any reason to be judgemental about any of these groups. I'm ionto it for both. People who are into it for the music will probably have a stronger emotional response than those into it for the equipment. This may not even be a complete truth, because people are into music for different reasons. My brother-in-law is a very talented musician, who seems to really enjoy the technical aspects of music, such as very complicated forms of jazz, which to me seem completely devoid of emotional content (or maybe I just don't get it). A chacun son gout.

I agree about technical music not being emotional. I go to concerts/recitals at my son's university and enjoy these sessions. But I find that while the technical pieces show off the skill and talent of the performers, to me it is boring.

Everyone probably has some recordings that show off their hi-fi capabilities, but some of the most musical recordings are certainly not the best from a technical standpoint. I lean towards listening more to the better quality recordings vs. musical just like the fact that I'll watch a boring show on an HD channel instead of something more interesting on an analog channel. I'm a prisoner of my own nervosa. One exception is the album, "For Duke" by M+K. Fantastic recording by all aspects.