Do we really know what "Live" music sounds like?

When I listen to my system or another, what I listen for is the sound stage, pin point localization of the musicians, decay, harmonics, detail, how deep the bass goes and is it details or just one note bass, mid-range beauty and many other details that appeal to me and therefore makes the piece of music enjoyable. A lot of times, particularly if it is electric rock type music I say, it sounds better than going to a concert. If it is classical it can still sound wonderful to my ears and warm my heart, but I cannot get out of my head that I am in a much smaller room and no matter how wide the sound stage in all directions it never sounds just like being in a large concert hall, but still very enjoyable. The bottom line is I build a system to appeal to my ears, room, and budget with the end goal of a very enjoyable listening session for me and anyone else who comes over to listen, but never do I believe it sounds just like a concert I had attended. As @runwell mentions above, it is a great imitation of a concert I attended or maybe even better in the sense that my room is very comfortable and with good acoustics since I have spent a great amount of time and thought in treating the room, but at 12' by 15' it has it limitations.

If your ears and brain enable you to fill in the blanks for a reasonable amount of recordings, you've got a good "lifelike" system.

What the OP reports out of listening live is so important. There are some who will accuse that kind of realization as unnecessary or snobism in terms of guaging what's important in a system. But real live unamplified ans minimally amplified music are the best guides.

The best audio I have ever heard involve Class A tube amps in terms of capturing lifelike tonality and instrumental body. 

@analogj - Might be the best guides if you like that kind of music, but not everybody does. For example, I listen to rock, pop, and reggae, not to 'minimally amplified music', so I wouldn't much care how that kind of stuff would sound on my system.

@larsman 

Sure, you may not listen to live or acoustic instruments, but it's a partial guide to know how accurately your system is rendering the recording.