I take the opposite approach. I want my system to sound good on "average," standard issue records, not audiophile "spectaculars." That isn’t to say I won’t search out a "best" pressing, but having accumulated a lot of LPs over the years, and culling them out, replacing some, buying others, I’ve found that the better a system is, the more it will reveal from "standard" issues- I collect a lot of small and private label post bop, have a ton of classic rock and a considerable amount of classical that I bought decades ago. Most of the "audiophile" stuff collects dust- simply too banal, musically.
If you dig down, you can find interesting music that sounds good. It used to be easier before record inflation (grading and price) kicked in. But there are a lot of gems out there that are not on the standard "Chad" or "MoFi" reissue list. I also like to challenge myself by listening to music that I once would have regarded as too cacophonous. There is a happy medium for every taste- from country to free jazz. Part of the quest, for me, is discovery of "new to me" music that may be "old." It’s astounding what you can pull from those grooves if you can land a copy that hasn’t been abused. There is also a considerable amount of "new" music that is worth exploring. Open the aperture wider--audiophiles tend to silo themselves into approved sonic wonders. I rarely go near that stuff, even though I have shelves of it in my secondary storage area.
