What is a high end stereo SUPPOSED to sound like?

If it's true hi-fi, it 'should' sound like the original source. However no stereo system does this, esp if you are sitting in front of it. My system which is very much lo/mid-fi CAN sound like a live artist is performing if I am listening to it while in a room other than the room the sytem is located, and it's solo or small group music. No stsero system will make you think the Chicago symphony is in your house, but maybe Joan Baez. The term 'high end' is not revelant. My system is just as realistic as any on this site i.e. it seldom sounds like the real thing. But it does satisfy my need to listen to music, and I cannot imagine being without it.

'LIVE' has nothing to do with how good something sounds or all the other adjectives used here to describe stereo systems. LIVE is your local band at the friday night football game or Your kids trying to learn piano or clarinet.

Can a system sound LIVE. Yes. But your brain has to be tricked into thinmking it's live music. You can't think it's live if you are sitiing in a room right in front of the system. Your eyes will override your ears, and the brain will always side with the eyes.

Several years ago in Germany, me and a friend were walking thru the parking lot to the PX in Nurnberg. We heard this band, and saw a crowd down at the other end of the parking lot. They sounded great. We went to see and listen and discovered that it was not a band at all, but the SONY Representative demostrating his speakers. The kind with square or rectangular flat drivers. I think the power amp was phase linear. Out in the open, no room or walls. I thought it was live right up until I could see. Then my eyes/brain restored reality. Still sounded good, just not live. But I was so impressed (former trumpet player), I went right into the PX and bought the LP! Maynard Ferguson's 'Conquistador"
btw, the reason he was outside was that, no way the store would allow that volume level inside.
I have never thought my system sounded live, but I have a few times thought that someone just listening from outside might think it was live.
Cheers.

Since we have now defined what a high end system sounds like, maybe we can decide when or at what price point does the high end begin. For instance, for a system consisting of speakers, amps and a cd player, assuming an adeqate room and wire etc..., using MSRP for new equipment, how cheaply can you enter the 'high-end'?