Interesting thread to which I can unfortunately (or more likely fortunately) contribute little. I'll throw out a few off-the-cuff/wall comments:
1. Having attended and performed at many live events, live sound from my recordings is not usually my goal. Sometimes I just prefer my comfortable illusions, from how the hall really sounds to the magic of dubbing that lets me fix that dratted missed opening note in my solo...
2. One of the popular sayings among trumpet players/teachers is "paralysis by analysis". It happens when you forget about the music and worry about the details and the mechanics to the point that nothing musical happens - you are paralyzed. I see certain parallels here, maybe just me...
3. Recording engineers come in many flavors, and are sometimes driven by their clients. You will not always (not even usually) find a dry recording using the flattest mics; more often, the mic is chosen for its pleasing sound (read "coloration"), the lead guitar wants his effects in the tracks as they are laid down, etc.
4. In my experience, to many audiophiles, accuracy and precision have little relation to what they regard as "good sound". N.B. There is nothing wrong with this!
5. Most published component specs tell very little about how things will sound in your room. It's not that we can't measure more, but there is simply little request for more specs, and few would be the audiophiles who would understand them if they were provided. Again, this is not bad, just means we still have to listen, not go by the data sheet (specs).
FWIWFM - Don