WHat did Audiophiles hear during Tape deck era?

eek!

https://blog.discogs.com/en/top-100-most-expensive-cassettes/

$4117 for a tape.........

What was heard during the tape deck era?

Invariably, some level of hiss.

Listen through the hiss, grasshopper. Or use Dolby tapes. Problem solved!  You know, like you listen through pops and clicks on vinyl. Which reminds me, what the heck happened to the tape hiss on CDs? 

There’s a Tool promo cassette listed on eBay as we speak for $8666.

I had a pioneer system, A-80 amp. EQ, Tape deck with dolby b and c, DBX route selector, 3BX range expander, and DBX noise reduction. Also, a KLH active noise filter unit, that would quiet everything down when the signal was low and it would bypass when the music got cranking. This would pretty much make the tape hiss disappear . I still have the DBX units and KLH in storage..