About twenty years ago I started seeking real unamplified instruments in an effort to know what the real thing sounded like. I found an isolated piano here and there… occasionally a little jazz trio. It helped a little. Particularly the piano and drum kit.
Then about ten years ago, I got season tickets to the symphony, 7th row center… where all sounds are unamplified and solo performers were close enough: the sound hole of the violinist or sound board of the piano was pointed directly at my seat. This had a profound effect on the objectives of my system and my upgrades took a big change in direction… for the better. I realized I had a characterization of what music should sound like that was a conflation of memories of rock concerts, systems I had heard when young, and some smaller concerts.
I turned from planar speakers and massive amplifiers to tube electronics and Sonus Faber speakers. All music types sound better with my improving system… while in the past one type might sound better with an upgrade and the rest worse. My system is an order of magnitude more musical and satisfying to listen to. Cymbals sound like brass, and trombones and trumpets have that complex microdetail that makes them so amazing when live. My system still has all the detail it used to, only the detail is not in your face detracting from the full bloom of the mid-range voices and instrument.
Yes, exposure to live un-amplified music is the key to understanding sound and creating an empirical ruler.