Is live reproduction the goal of audio?

If the end result connects me emotionally to the music, and I can transfer the intentions of the composer, musician(s), engineer and producer, so that an honest, accurate, representation of the event, live or otherwise, is conveyed, then the combination of recording, media, system, time, place and mood have achieved their goal, and I am happy.

C5150: you lost me bro'. Sorry but my puny brain can't cope with your exposition on boiled steak.

Hey we're in this particular universe at this time, who knows where or what universe we might end up in the next moment? But art, and especially music, that exists in time, frequency and dynamic range is the most kinetic of all art forms. There is no spatial element to boiled steak, dynamic range and maybe time to chew and injest, but the frequency response is very limited. And one bite may be as boring or exciting as the next.

I don't think one needs to spend $100,000 or even $10,000 to achieve sonic satisfaction, but earbuds with MP3 lossy encoding plain SUCKS and I can hear it and detest it. So don't tell me that your iPOD is nirvana, cause I won't buy it. And I'll tell you something else, when all those kids with their earbuds and iPODs do grow up and realize what they're missing, they'll be stocking up on those horrible boat anchor amps and good speakers simply becuase they SOUND BETTER.