I listen to a lot of historical performances along with modern (I.e. stereo). So I can’t really say SQ is the deciding factor. It is definitely important, however. Even historical performances can sound very different depending upon the restoration technique. Compare Pristine Audio with Immortal Performances, for example. They have both reissued the same NBC Symphony concerts from the early forties led by Toscanini and Walter. Pristine likes to inject a lot of ambience, and IP is less interventionist. They both are recognizable as having the same source but the differences are interesting.
With modern recordings I am more tolerant of less than perfect sound. I was listening to some Debussy from Vikung Olaffson on DG and then the same music from Peter Frankl on Vox in the same listening session. I love both discs and having played the Frankl second at first the ear is confronted with opaque Sonics but soon it adjusts