Does it have to sound good for you to like it?

Parsons has videos on youtube on his home gear and speaker setup. He owns pretty expensive stuff.

@mikhailark I assume this is the YouTube video you’re referring to since it seems to be the only one out there.  You gotta be kidding me!  If this is his home stereo it’s pretty clear he’s no audiophile and would explain why he doesn’t seem to even understand audiophiles or what drives them.  Both his system/room/setup and just the way he speaks about audio equipment is pure audio engineer/musician with nary a hint of audiophile in there.  But, with this perspective I can certainly better understand why he’d make such an inane statement about audiophiles.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnCKVuBrY-s

Oh, so "audiophile" is about gear then. Well, this is exactly what Alan said ;-)

He has tons of real gear in properly treated rooms at his workplaces :-) For some reason I don't think they elevate cables off the floor.

Does great recording quality make average music sound better and almost acceptable ?

By the way, Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd is average quality. Who produced it ? Great album, though.

@inna - Ultimately, the band decides. Parsons own recordings are better. But then again, technology improves with time. 1975 and 1990 is a big difference. I just got 2018 remix of Animals on vinyl, haven't have time to dig into it.

@drbay 

Some of the best songs in the world are very poorly recorded. Eg: The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face by Roberta Flack. 

Beautiful song and an amazing singer. I have my parents to thank for exposing me to her and many other greats as a little kid (I was born in 1964). Dad had a reel to reel that was like a hard shell suitcase. I wish I knew what is was.

Have you listened to the Qobuz HR version of First Take? It sounds pretty good to me.