I’m confused. Please explain.

I own a very nice hand-built acoustic guitar. It's a gorgeous sounding instrument.  

When I listen to my modest system, do I compare its presentation of acoustic guitars to the"live" sound of my Boucher?  No. Never.  Being emotionally and physically engaged by the music is my top priority.

I started out with a cheap transistor radio in bed every night. In my teens,when my love for music exponentially intensified, I had a $99.00 component system. My enjoyment of music is not fundamentally dependant upon sound. I've regularly sat in friend's listening rooms,listening to systems much, much more expensive than mine and my experience of the music is not "better" than when I'm at home. 

I guess this puts me in the "good enough" category. 

I own a very nice hand-built "boutique" acoustic guitar. It sounds wonderful -- the best by far of the many acoustic and electric guitars I’ve owned in 50 years of playing.

So, it goes without saying that, when I’m listening music, I’m stringently analyzing how well my system presents the sound of acoustic guitars compared to my Boucher.

No.

I don’t expect that of my system and it’s not a problem. I guess I’m firmly in the "good enough" camp.

I suppose, had my exposure to music been on a high-end system from the very beginning, I might believe emotional engagement was a function of sonics but that wasn’t the case. I started with transistor radio and graduated to a $99 component system in high school, by which time music had become a hugely important focus for me (this was before I’d started playing).

But I think sounding “real” is the most basic requirement for a high end system, because I know what real sounds like, and euphonic, or pleasant to listen to, and not irritating, is a close second.

You make an important distinction. The point I was trying to make was that I don’t require the level of "reality" that qualifies as "high end" in order to thoroughly enjoy listening. I’ve listened to friends’ high end systems and enjoyed the more refined sonics but in terms of my emotional engagement with the music, I haven’t found their systems to be superior to mine.

Having only recently, after a long struggle, succeeded in removing lingering "irritation" from my system, I wholeheartedly concur that lack of irritation is a basic requirement. Irritating sound = irritated listener and none of us want to be that guy!