If I don’t like it, I won’t buy it. If I have it and no longer enjoy it, I don’t play it no matter how good it sounds. Thankfully, that only has happened on about 5% of my records. I sometimes wonder what the hell I was thinking when I bought it. If it sounds really good and I play it, I enjoy it more than an inferior sounding one from the same artist or another one, but I still listen to it.
If I ever go to a store to listen to some new equipment, I am sure to bring my own records with me.
If you are trying to hear your equipment, get the best sounding records you can find, if you are trying to hear the music you like, try to get an excellent pressing of any new records you buy. That’s why guys like Acoustic Sounds can get $35-60 for new pressings. There are still plenty of excellent sounding ones in the low $20’s. There are also records made for demoing equipment like Session Ii that was made by Yamaha to play so they could sell their equipment. I still have it back from when they gave it to me when I bought my first real stereo stacked with Yamaha gear. I never play it…..
Whatever floats your boat….It’s like watching critically acclaimed movies you don’t like- some people have to see it, not me.