Soundstage, Imaging, Detail & Presence??

In many recordings, those terms are artificial and imaginary. In some good live recordings, a bit less so. It's not that multi-microphone, multi-track can't recreate an audience perspective, but it's recreated. "Don't look behind the curtain". Stereo IS subtle deception.

In the reproduction chain, various equalization, distortion, room interaction and time smearing can enhance or detract from ambience and all those terms.

You can't always trust your ears but what else are you going to suspend of disbelieve.

"These are things most audiophiles never find"

Actually Buconero 117 this is not true, if you follow the tube path to find them. I'm not sure it can be realized with ss, at least I haven't heard it but then again I expect it would be extremely pricey if it does exist going that road.

Paraphrasing someone telling me a long time ago that "when you can connect to the music with your poor recordings as well as the great ones you have arrived.

Forget those terms, and RUN while you still can !

Why? Because over the years,for me, those terms had become like a vacuum, sucking me into ANALYZING the sound instead of ENJOYING the artists reproduced through my system.

While the usual audio terms do define specific things, and are used and promoted greatly by the ''reviewers'' in audio rags, which have a tendency to describe $ 3,000 speaker cables and $ 20,000 amplifiers as ''affordable'' and as if they were actual people,(they are not, our families and friends are) I think there is only ONE term that should be used most of the time with anything regarding our audio systems.

That would be the word ''Enjoyment''

As in, am I enyoying this or not ?

Think about it...

Have to agree...these are largely rhetoric perpetuated by audio mags...remember when PRAT was a buzzword not too long ago? When equipment and terminology become more important than quality music its game over....

As much as I agree with Soniqmike and Phasecorrect that the sound is soooo much more important than those terms, I can still appreciate the op wanting to be able to sit in on discussions of the strengths and weaknesses of different equipment where these terms are mandatory.