@jsalerno277 I agree with most of what you say.
As a musician I know well what real music sounds like and I’ve built my system so that it sounds as close to that as possible. It’s always been my goal.
in your analysis you hit on certain problems I have with listening. The hedonistic quest for “perfect” sound raises its ugly head. I achieve near perfect SQ rarely, but after I hear it, it becomes something I want to achieve at all times. Of course, as you say, the variable quality of source materials makes that impossible.
As I say in my post, the music must be primary. But it’s easy to get caught up in the sonics.