Disturbing "Sonic Trend" showing up on SOTA audio

Schubert,
I really respect your opinions. I must state that very little music is recorded as live music. My gauge is also live acoustical instruments. But, the vast majority of music is studio recorded with the engineer's idea of what it should sound like live in person. Everything is an illusion. When I listen to closely miked acoustical small groups, that is my reference for my home audio reproduction. Most of the studio recorded music never comes close to the live experience. Instead we hope to imagine the live experience through the ears of the recording engineer. The better the equipment plays the room and the more accurate the equipment, the more we believe. I don't want to see the man behind the curtain!

There are all kinds of good and bad sound at many price points.

Let's not generalize though.modern sota to me means top notch performance. That's not necessarily the same as best sound which is a subjective judgement. Good performance is not hard to identify however opinions will vary widely on what sounds best. In general good performance enables good sound but does not guarantee it.

It seems aspiring to replicate a live performance should be indisputable. Either it sounds like the real thing or it doesn't. When attending a live performance, questions of whether I'm hearing an actual piano, strings, or voice do not arise...nor do I explore the imaging or air around the instruments. It's just the real thing. In contrast, when I listen to and assess an audio system, rarely, if ever am I fooled into believing live performers are in the room.
I have heard three reproductions that brought me very close. Back in the nineties Peter McGrath, a sound engineer, played Watt/Puppies in an immensely well designed room, fed by Master Tapes.
Vandersteen 7's driven by a digital amp, in another finely constructed space, had such airiness, and spatial real-ness...along with palpable tonality, that I had no need to close my eyes for added affectation.
And most recently, at Axpona, near the end of the evening, the Tidal room was streaming through a number of esoteric pieces with that occasional "you are there" presence.
But, unfortunately for the vast majority of my listening experiences, either the coloration or an etched detail create a hi fi rendering. And, often those systems that offer what at first appears to be something special, over time reveal missing ingredients.
In my system I recently added a Koetsu Coralstone cart., which has yet to be properly broken in, brings consistently more enjoyment and involvement in the music; and less focus on the components. Is it colored? Likely, but the density of strings...the size and pace of piano...authority of voice...decay of cymbals, temporarily creates a plausible illusion. Much of my equipment is from the nineties, with the exception of the cabling and speakers. I have gone through several changes over the years seeking out a simulated reproduction, from solid state to tubes and a mix there-of, and the closer I get the further the holy grail seems to be.

Tgrisham, what you say is so.
But, time and again I go to hear Minnesota Orch. live and come home and play recording version of same music they played and, save for ultimate volume, there is very little
difference .
The difference between halls is more than the recording difference to me. Of course like anyone, I could just be hearing what I want to hear.

Tgrisham, Well said! My view exactly. FWIW, using an absolute, such as a live performance, sounds of instruments, halls, etc, as a measure of the merit of an audio system, is so flawed, that the only purpose it really serves is the wallet of the purveyors of audio equipment.

Even if the equipment and environment existed where the true sounds of a live performance might occur (and IMHO, it doesn't and can't) the end result would still be determined in the creation of the recording on the mixing console by the recording engineer. A major dam in the flow of live music to its reproduction in the home.