Top two most important sound qualities

Rhythm & Pace, and tonal balance.

Good question… but two is pretty limited. But I understand what you are trying to get at. If you had asked me over the years starting in the 1970’s to now I think each decade would be different. Probably starting with details and slam… then my focus changed to micro details (as my equipment got better) and imaging, then, then… then… most recently midrange bloom and musicality as I was finally able to really grasp the entire range and put them all together. 
 

It would not surprise me if you couldn’t correlate the time pursuing the high end and the answer to your question. It took me decades to “get” rhythm and pace.

My first draft --

Fidelity to actual timbres.

Spacial accuracy.

Unimpeded dynamics.

pretty much every post is a poll :)

@ghdprentice Two selections being limited is the whole point here. 🙂I know you see that, given your whole response and the experiential learning involved. Listing a third or fourth quality without indicating priority is fine, but it's dilutive because it's that much closer to listing all the attractive qualities one can think of.

full bodied, earthy, fruity, bright, crisp sound.... I mean....