In reply to:
And on most classicals you hear page-turning, piano player breathing, on jazz you hear the guy getting his lips on the trumpet. Not necessarily what many people may care for.
You piqued my curiosity there. Are you suggesting that music may sound better (say, for many people) if those "noises" are less audible? If so, I strongly disagree, and propose that without the performing noise, the music would sound instantly "dead" and detached. The breaths of the keyboard or string player, the "hiss" of woodwinds (especially flute) and brasses, and even foot thumps of the conductor... Those are, im my opinion, fairly important "sound component" of the acoustic genres of music. If you go to a violin recital, you will clearly and constantly hear a fairly loud "phrasing breaths" of the violinist, which carry the power to connect and engage the audience to the performer.
An OK audio equipemnt reproduces the sound of instruments very nicely; a great audio set will reproduce the "performance" by the human being.
