Is This the Essence of "The Audiophile Dilemma?

It is not an all or none proposition. 

First of all, most of us have no idea what we are looking for and I do not mean this in a bad way. Most of us have limited exposure to really great systems and you do not find them at dealers regardless of the equipment they use. There are a few dealers who do a great job. I could probably count them on the fingers of one hand. I would bet more of us have been exposed to live music than great systems.

Second of all, most people buy a system and have no intention of climbing an audiophile tree. This includes some audiophiles. They have found what they are looking for.

The rest of us have found part of what we are looking for and just have to make a few improvements. This is the incremental group. We know what we are looking for and will get there eventually given the availability of equipment and finances. I do not know about the rest of you but I am loving the ride. 

@roxy54 , Not one of mine either.

@hilde45 , very rational. I like your train of thought.

Many concerts have terrible sound quality. You have to pick your venues for the best sound. They are either open air or small, perhaps100 people capacity. Still you usually do not get the magical image a great system is capable of. Can a home system match the dynamics of a live performance? This is a tough one. You do not want to damage your hearing but you want to feel the music as well as get the image you get at Venues like Boston Symphony Hall. I think this is possible. I myself am not quite there. Will I go all the way for the USA? Nothing is written in stone.