I would never let the quality of a recording dictate whether I would listen to it or not. I have plenty of really badly recorded/produced/mixed recordings that enjoy. I enjoy them in the car, on a secondary system, and on the big rig. Besides the limited selection, audiophile recordings cost way too much for my budget. I have a few Reference Recordings CDs that sound really great, but otherwise, I have the standard commercial CDs or LPs. I am digitizing all of my LPs, gradually, for use on my server.
That said, my big rig is probably not as revealing or ruthless as many systems that you guys have. Know what? I prefer it that way. I feel like I am getting enough detail, good dynamics and a smooth power response, and still have a musical sounding system that enables me to enjoy even the lousy recordings. Sure, they don't sound as good as the better ones, but they are listenable. I have taken some of the bad CDs to hear on more revealing systems than mine, and the results were simply unlistenable. I wouldn't trade my modest rig for any of those systems, because, well, it's about the music. The sound is secondary. I wonder how much great music people with those deadly accurate, super-revealing systems are missing out on because inferior recordings are unlistenable on those systems.
