A truly great system portrays what is played back with less distortion, with less addition, with less subtraction. It should 'conceal' nothing, but if it is that good, it will more than likely hit a home run with regard to expressing the emotion in a performance/recording. The 'flaws' are there sure, but you are more genuinely presented the music as well. It is with the most impressive work of art recordings that you see deeper into the ability of the system. The great recordings have so much hidden resolution that they are sufficient to assess the system chain from start to finish.Not reading all 5 pages, but what about the notion of using music you are only "lukewarm" to?
My fear is that I am always listening more to the songs themselves, vs. how the speaker presents the song. Yes, I know it is about hearing the music and not the speaker, but if you like the song itself, you tend to ignore all but the worst of the actual presentation.
Well, JMHO.
The best systems find a way to convey clearly the 'musical point' that a piece of music is offering. This should be evident on all grades of recording from the sublime to the abysmal. A great system conveys everything which is sublime(which by inference means the musical message) and everything which is abysmal which comes back to the recording technique/ mastering captured on the Master Tape in many instances.
A great system can offer astonishing musical satisfaction without needing to resort to imposing a 'characterful' sound in an attempt to mollify the real world limitations of myriad recorded music