What is a high end stereo SUPPOSED to sound like?

I'd rather answer in terms of what it's supposed to feel like. You can hear a song from someone like Eva Cassidy on a low end system and like it for the beautiful lyrics. You can hear the same song on a higher end system and feel it in your soul. Of course, it has to be a good song. If the dynamics are there and the sound stage is there and the clarity is there and you can hear every nuance including the breathing and the decay of the notes -- those things and others combine to ignite your emotions at a different level. Low end systems can certainly elicit an emotional response based on the quality of the song but great stereos wrench you like nothing other than live music can. With a great stereo, you don't want to leave the experience.

Onhwy61, I hear you and thought I addressed it in my post. Of course you can have an emotional response to a song even on a car radio with a bunch of road noise. Sing along. Cry. Laugh. But there is an additional magic when hearing it live because of the nuances of emotion, the nuances of the instruments (including voice) and the clarity broadcast in a live performance. A good stereo should also accomplish that. The musicians grab a hold and don't let go at an entirely different level. Subtle but distinct to my heart. You can't not pay attention.

Thanks for the responses. I'll admit to being pretty confused right now. On the one hand, my experience and that of many people I know confirm a stronger emotional response when listening to great music on a great stereo. Perhaps the message is less blurred or perhaps it's a more compelling, less distracting experience. It is a more transcendent experience that adds emotional magic to what was already an emotional response based on the song itself. On the other hand, many smart people here make a case that the total emotional response and the quality of the stereo are independent of one another and they have never experienced a different response to a song whether played on a boom box or a fine stereo. I'm very puzzled since I am now hearing two different things from different groups of people whom I trust. That's OK. No need to resolve the differences. I'm puzzled by many things in life.

That leads me to some questions though. Apart from the pride one achieves by doing things right and solving the difficult problems of compiling a great system, is this hobby strictly a cognitive exercise? Improving systems simply moves toward certain sonic goals without any change in emotional response to the music being played?