Physically, there can never be a perfect "audio system + listening room" for all types of music - the subject of searches for an audio Holy Grail by some audiophiles. From a scientific (logical?) perspective, the best that psychoacoustic researchers can do is to look for either "most preferred" for particular types of music, or try to identify compromised systems that might "preferred" by statistically significant percentages of listeners over a wider range of music genres.
My instincts and experiences- based on 65 years of observing and pondering human activities - lead me to believe that there are sets of ranges of preferences, and trying to go beyond that is like chasing rainbows.
Therefore, I think we need to be careful to debate "preferences" as regions in a matrix, e.g., those previously mentioned "sets" of conclusions. There are HUGE variances in real, live music across dozens of genres and types and configurations of venues - and there is a complete lack of a "live" reference for many studio recordings, where musicians can separated, wear headphones, and use direct feeds from amplified instruments to the mixing console.
Although we can strive for more "goodness" and "rightness" in reproducing recordings, and we can approach "almost like live" for acoustic solo and ensemble recordings, I view most recordings as a set of compromises plus a veneer of the sonic "preferences" of producers and engineers.
My first audio system and world-class live classical music experiences began within a year of each other in the late 1950s. When my father helped me to assemble my first monophonic HiFi system, I was a high school student working as an usher for Chicago's Orchestra Hall, and able to spend two years listening to live performances of Chicago Symphony Orchestra during the Fritz Reiner era. During that time, his collaboration with RCA switched from mono to stereo, and I was there for many of performances that are in the incredible 63 album Reiner/CSO "Living Stereo" series.
A Reiner strategy was to record pieces after they were thoroughly rehearsed for subscription concerts. This permitted long takes that would give the feel of a live performance, and notably, the finale of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Sheherazade was recorded in a single take without edits).
That entire CSO/RCA "Living Stereo" collection is still available from Sony for a list price of $1,000. I owned some of vinyl LPs and CDs years ago, and now have many of them as as FLAC files.
At the other end of the spectrum, I have experienced Santana in a Palo Alto fish and chips and ice cream parlor, the Rolling stones at Altamont, Pat Metheny at the U.C. Berkeley Greek Theater, Cat Stevens at the Berkeley Community Theater with a live string section, folk and acoustic guitar plus many jazz combos and bands in small clubs and halls, etc., etc., etc...
Because I am an expatriate retiree living in the mountains of Western Panama, I base my buying decisions on many years of experience, reading "between the lines" of reviews, the evolving findings (not "conclusions") of science and psychoacoustics, and conversations on internet audio forums. I am pleased with the results and find my current system to be very satisfying for casual (background) listening, dedicated listening sessions, and movies. I do not expect - and would not expect even if I had unlimited financial resources for audio - to be able to "accurately" reproduce all or even most of those sonic experiences. But I do accept the finding that the science of psychoacoustics can determine what "might be" the best compromise for my listening preferences. Indeed, I have been able to assemble a system that to me sounds quite realistic, and it only cost me about $1,700 including shipping to Panama. I probably could have gotten the same level of sonic performance for under $1,000 using the same loudspeakers, but chose to get some features, looks and include some "preferences" that are not related to sound quality.
I will be converting my second bedroom, where my computer desk and an unused bed are located, into a dedicated office/listening/TV room, but I will stay with my excellent 2-channel audio rather then a compromised multi-channel surround system. If I can afford it in a few months (not a sure thing), I would like to replace my Paradigm Atom v6 monitors with a pair of the gorgeous - and highly rated and recommended - Revel F206 "small" towers in walnut. Based on the combination of Harman research (including "preferences") and uniformly excellent reviews, I have absolutely no doubt that I will enjoy them immensely. I haven't owned a pair of floorstanders since my Klipsch Forte II's which I sold in 2005 - 14 years ago.
. Just as with a microphone, ADC, DAC, amplifier. Decide what do we want the thing to do and then design and build it with as few remaining unknowns as possible.
