[Imperial]

I'd like to flip this a bit over.
A great system.

I'm gonna look back at the listener for a while here...
You have the system, the room, the music... all having come out of the mind of the listener.
He needs what?

...

The understanding of sound.

The great system "looks" back at the owner... The music has come alive in that room..

Great stuff!

Imperial

[JLM]

A nearby retired music professor listened for years to his system that had a blown tweeter.  His mind filled in the blanks.  This musical mind/imagination (and lack of money) is probably why many musicans have crummy systems, they just don't need one.

Isn't the goal of a good audio system to provide as many acoustical clues while avoiding misleading information?  An abundance of clues allows the analytical side of the brain relax and let the emotive side enjoy.  This also helps reduce listener fatigue.

[Helvellyn]

To me when I sit down to "listen" to my system I want to be transported away from reality and to the venue or the performance. I really lose myself in the soundfield and feel as if the musicians are performing on stage in front of me in my room. This illusion requires a system which is musical (pace,rhythm & tone etc.), dimensional (soundstaging and depth) and resolving (low level detail). Without one of the 3, then the illusion is not attainable. 

That's pretty much how I judge my system. Now that I can do all the above I have a "great" system. Before, when little or none of the above was evident, I didn't!

[mcullinan]

If I am unable to have sex in front of my audio system, due to the feeling that I think the musicians are actually in the room and watching us.... thats a good audio system.
Mike

[sunshinedawg]

Isn't the goal of a good audio system to provide as many acoustical clues while avoiding misleading information?  An abundance of clues allows the analytical side of the brain relax and let the emotive side enjoy.  This also helps reduce listener fatigue.

I couldn't agree more. I could care less how tonally correct a system is. The misleading spatial information from a 60o triangle setup is incredibly fatiguing to me. My ears/brain can never resolve all the incorrect info and therefore can never relax. My system provides enough acoustical clues, that I am never analyzing, just enjoying.