what system musicians prefer? Do they care?

Me too.  I appreciate both aspects of the experience, but some don’t and don’t feel they are missing much.  

From around the are of 8 to well into my 30's I had worked with and around entertainers/musicians. I can not remember a single one that put any effort into a decent sound system. On numerous occasions after a long studio session we would transfer a stereo copy onto one format or another then head to my house, where I would play the tunes for the band, so that could hear what it sounded like in a "real" home environment. Most of them, (if they actually had any hearing left) would just look at each other and query "did it sound good?" I've had many well known artists over for a listen and very few exceptions cared about that aspect. Generally after a few sessions like that, normally they would just let me cut a safety copy, of bring some of my gear to a gig and run a board recording. Over the years, I was able to amass a sizeable collection of "one of a kind" recordings. They trusted me enough not to "bootleg" anything I was allowed to take home.  

I'm a musician. I prefer stereo systems that are true to the source in both my studio and listening rooms. With that criteria, active ATCs are a no brainer, with pro monitors in the studio and consumer towers in the main listening room.

This discussion has gone down a few roads; as a (working! still!!) professional musician [AFM local member, orchestral musician, free lance, handful of recordings and commercial stuff, aka-the studio isn't unfamiliar] I'm also an audiophile with a dedicated music room hosting JRDG electronics, VPI TT, Maggie 3.7i and Tannoy Monitor Gold's. It's true:  musicians (and I'll lump them all together: rock, jazz, classical) don't universally have great-to-fantastic playback systems. I do; I know musicans that do. However if you look at the percentage of fine playback systems present in (lets use the orchestra I play in, or one like it as an example) the percentage probably is similar to "the general public that likes music" and how many of them have decent playback rigs. I think the comments above regarding musicians and what we listen for, and 'content vs fidelity' is spot on - so I won't bother to write any more on it. Well said. I will add a critique: musicians NEED to listen more and I"m continutally amazed at how many don't listen either to the classic recordings or keep up with what's new. I'll go one step farther-if it's listening through some speaker on their cell phone or cruddy earbuds they are not getting 100% out of the exercise. I find my professional colleagues, especially more experienced ones, stop listening and exploring at some point. I can tell the ones that haven't - and they are better off for it! In music school we all take ear training (that's how to identify chords, intervals, what is in tune, a healthy dose of sight singing too); there are plenty of classes which encourage listening to recordings, but it needs to be taught (and isn't usually) how to listen for content, performance AND fidelity. We spend hours and $$$$ trying to get the best sound possible from our instruments of choice, live, yet for many of us the "recording" is what remains as testament to what we did. In the last CD which I was part of, I was fascinated by the custom-modded Neumann tube mics (in a Decca-tree arrangement). The recording engineer/producer had some wonderful stories about that rig. Likewise the final product was great. I think I was the only person to take an interest in the tube-drivers and mics, but most members appreciated the sound quality of the final product (further still, a few never listened to it! That's another story, and not at all uncommon.) I could write on-and-on why musicians don't listen (but should) but I gotta go practice. :) seriously. I do. I don't get to turn my rig on near as much as I'd like during the symphony season. Even when I do have a little time, sometimes my ears are just fatigued. 2020 allowed a bit more time.

Great topic.  i've always wondered just the same thing.  i've listened to some great songs/scores that were recorded / engineered poorly and came to the conclusion that the artist just doesn't care or only listens to music through his phone - like 99 percent of the world does.  I've also listened to some mediocre tunes that sound wonderful and it makes me think the artist is an audiophile and really cares about using talented musicians, engineers and production.