For one thing, records and tapes don't cough and wheeze, and they don't whisper during the quiet passages. And records and tapes, even when they are played on the most stunningly conceived modern loudspeakers, don't exhibit the depth and width and transparency of the sound heard live in a concert hall. This is because they are facsimiles. Therein lies the nub of my argument. Videophiles will have no trouble understanding the concept of facsimile replication, two big words that mean nothing more than the attempt to make one thing look or sound almost like another.
Facsimile replication happens all the time in the video world.
The broadcast studio captures a picture and sends it out to your home TV set. Of course, that is what sound reproduction is all about, too. I hear a good recording, and it sounds like a good recording. I wouldn't have it any other way, especially after auditioning a set of loudspeakers from Audio-Technica. A-T is also a giant in the headphone industry, and has recently entered the loudspeaker business.