Should audiophiles buy their equipment to reveal ALL details/nuances of the music precisely as recorded?
or Do that we prefer some scaling back of the exact reproduction?
The better the quality of the recording and the better the system = more of that richness and detail.
The downside is that better systems reveal more flaws in the recording/mixing process.
The more generic non-resolving systems gloss over the bad recordings but don’t reveal the splender in the better recordings.
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The better systems let everything thru, warts and all. But you learn how to purchase better media this way …
IMO you desire the absolute best reproduction possible in an audio system. The best media deserves the best system, et.al.
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No, playback cannot be too perfect.
But since no system is perfect we shop for the flaws with which we are most comfortable or bother us the least.
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I would say that objectively the goal of high-fidelity music reproduction is to be as revealing of the source recording as possible. That’s kind of axiomatic, I would think.
But in the real world of spiders and pain (as a friend of mine used to say) objectivity is tempered by taste, budget and physical constraints. I think the most laudable goal for anyone in this hobby is to assemble a system and space that a) produces music in a way they find engaging and enjoyable, and b) doesn’t bankrupt them. Even if objectively they understand that further improvements may be available at extreme cost.
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Well said, Craig, Elk, and Paul. I couldn’t add anything more useful if I tried.
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“PS Audio’s Copper Magazine*, Issue 127, December of 2020. He raises excellent issues here*”
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I am happy to report that I have reached the end of tweaking. Every isolation footer, absorbent ring/sheet, gear and plug support, cable elevator, and others have contributed to the glorious sound I am hearing tonight, and I could hear every minor change when changing the tweak. My system has never been this resolved before, and I have found the magic tweak combination for my system, I believe. 
Of course, there is still a long list for cable, gear, and speakers upgrade. That would make the above conclusion meaningless! 
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this article is like memory lane
my first turntable, 1970, was a Girard; during mid 1980’s I often listened to the IRS-V (both pictured in article). Receiver was a Sherwood, forget the box speakers.
funny story…one Sunday morning, living less than 100 feet from a church, I was blasting Emerson, Lake, and Palmer
next thing I knew, someone from the church was knocking on my door to ask me to turn the music down. my volume must have interfered with the organ and congregation concentration
I need those!!!
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