Larry I have a few simple questions for you. Are your observations based on your own analytical data with no particular interest in well reproduced audio? Sure would be interested in the details if so. Do you REALLY believe a Bose WAVE radio would be picked by most audiophiles as approximating real music to a greater degree than an accurately setup Hi-Fi? I have the opportunity to listen to a Bose WAVE radio every day in our office and can tell you from my own "critical" listening, your contention just ain't so to these ears but then again we all hear differently, right? Are you a natural born antagonist or sincerely playing the devils advocate? Finally, Do you really have a deep passion for music as the rest of us do? And BTW Albert I think your analogy couldn't have been stated more clearly for all to understand that might not get what well reproduced audio is really all about.
HiFi is an opinion - nothing more
The audiophile community spends vast amounts of time and resources trying to claim truth about something that boils down to be no more than one persons opinion. I read where some proclaimed audiophile has created nirvana by rotating his loudspeaker 1 degree off axis when used with a certain type of interconnect cable. Phew... I might remind everyone that the human ear and the mechanics of hearing are highly individual, namely we don't all hear alike. Add to that the processing that goes on in the brain to add value to what we hear, we end up with nothing more than an opinion not fact. Case in point, a system set up to accurately reproduce sound in terms of phase, and frequency amplitude response would not be desirable by most audiophiles. It would sound bright, thin and certainly not have enough bass. Most audiophiles would prefer the sound of a Bose Wave Radio to a an accurately set up HiFi. Get some acoustical instrumentation sometime and try it for yourself. To all of you who savor the delicious warmth of your tuuuuby like transistors and transparent capacitors, I say get a life. If you find yourself basking in the latest techno tweek and thirteenth set of speakers, I suggest you go off line, visit a used car lot, find an old VW Beatle, turn on the radio and enjoy the music again. Re-invent yourself.