How do you get the "real" feel of music?


There is a certain "real" feeling that I get when I go to a live concert. It's more of "feeling" the music instead of "hearing" it. That feeling, I think, comes from percussion instruments. I'd like to get that feel in my home stereo but it's not there. In my home, snare drums don't pop, I don't feel the bass drum in my chest, and rim shots don't exist. Is there a way to get that presence in a small system?

I'm not rich, and I don't want to hear, "Scrap all your sorry equipment and get a Krell, Bryston and HSU..." so with that in mind, I've got a 12x16 room with:

Sony DVP-NS500 DVD
JVC HR-S5900 VCR
Harman Kardon AVR80 II as a pre-amp
Parasound HCA-1205 power amp

I have used
Definitive Technologies BP-6
Polk Audio R40, CS-175, and PSW-250
Bose Accoustimass 5
Bose R-41

Is there any hope?
beetle63
...it depends.
i recently listened to praxis in my lincoln town car(1987) with new installed bose system. it is no certainly my home rig but just the music was driving me to the trans. i admit that i was smoking "j" during listening but that's the whole different measure of pleasure. "j" can bring you so close to the music that you won't have to play it at all on any rig and the other way arround: listining to some music you can get transed without "j". now imagine that i've combined two things: excellent music that can get you transed without "j" mixed with nice and natural hydra "j" played on piece of $hit car audio system still gives you double-trans! now imagine that in addition to that double trans you have instead of car-bose mark levinson/verity rig!

what i'm trying to state here that there are bunch of different ways even without spending megabucks on electronics and speakers.

...and finally, replace HK and Parasound with NAD or Marantz electronics that you can(i'm sure) afford. i believe that you will feel and listen with better comfort and for the less price.
If you're only willing to spend a reasonable amount of money, it cannot be done. One work around would be to get a high quality headphone and run it from a dedicated amp. It'll run you in the neighborhood of $1,000, but it will give you a very dynamic sound. One thing to remember, virtually all recent pop/rock recordings are extremely dynamically limited. In order to maintain a high average recording level the explosive peaks have been removed from the music. It takes alot of the life out of the music.

Good luck!
Beetle: Your electronics aren't the problem. Three things really matter: speakers, room, source material. If you like certain music, there's not much you can do about the last (though you owe it to yourself to buy a few XRCDs just to hear what good source material really sounds like). There are certainly a lot of speaker options out there that might sound better to you than the ones you've tried so far. Playing around with your room arrangement, damping first reflections, will also help. But part of what makes live music sound great is that it's live--and it's almost never played in a 12x16 room. So don't expect miracles.
Indiana & Bomarc above probably offer your only hope here. You want *dynamics* Beetle - that's what you're missing now, but don't despair because you can get that too. It will take some experimentation, but you can approach the dynamics of live music with the right speakers. Yes you can feel the music at my house, bathe in it, become involved in it, revel in it, not simply hear it.
My primary "secret" to live dynamics is horn speakers (Klipsch's horns) vs. the direct-radiator designs that have failed you. There are some other older horn offerings that also offer high sensitivity/efficiency, such as the old Altec's, JBL's & or perhaps even Cerwin Vega. Avantgarde has some fantastic new horn designs but they're pretty expensive even at used prices.
Some audiophiles advise against horns because of their shortcomings, yes they do have some horn coloration sound (that just takes awhile to get used to & then you hardly notice it) but the transient attack speed and dynamic impact more than make up for it. And looking at other affordable speaker designs (such as those you mentioned above) they all exhibit some shortcomings & compromise tradeoffs, so this charactaristic of horn speakers becomes just another of those; it's no big deal. Also, you can install some basic tweaks in your horns to fix the resonance issues, so again no big deal. I even have high-end crossovers modded for mine.
Try to get out to a shop that sells Klipsch & hear some of their newer designs. They're not as sensitive as the older classic LaScala's, Belle's, or K-horns, or even the Heresy, but have still been recommended by members here with higher end equipment. If you can find any way to audition the older classic Klipsch designs then you'll probably buy one.
Be advised that these horns, being so sensitive & revealing, will show you any shortcomings of your upline equipment. The balancing act is tricky, but when you eventually arrive at the right combination of equipment & cabling, you'll be thrilled I guarantee.
I would have to agree with Bob, I have klipsch KG4 ($225 horn, 2 8" mids and 12" radiator) series speakers with MIT cabling and the first thing I do when I come home is turn on the stereo and it stays on till I go to sleep, on weekends all weekend long. I listen to mainly spanish rock, and the klipsch I think really mate better with this genre of music than any other affordable (in my case) speaker that I auditioned. The klipsch really bring enjoyment (so much that I will never sell them) to listening and their dynamic punch makes you feel the music.