Top two most important sound qualities

Great post.  Obviously difficult to narrow it to two. I choose tonality and dynamics 

Tonality and clarity. Next I'd say vivid while letting your shoulders release and relax. 

Interesting to note responses.

If your listening preference is analytical, cerebral the criteria will be different than if your listening preference is for emotional impact.  Nice to see that some of the responses include both.

In his well known book Get Better Sound, Jim Smith writes that emotional impact is created by three things, 1) Rhythm (accurate timing, that is, when all frequencies reach the ear at the same time - this is what gets my toes tapping and my head nodding), 2) Timbre ("tonality", the precise reproduction of harmonics, overtones, what makes an "A" on the piano,violin, saxophone, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, male & female voices sound different - this is what I find to be nurturing), 3) Dynamics (the variations in loud/soft, fast/slow, flowing, continuous/sharp, percussive, compare strings to the abrupt almost harsh shimmering attack of cymbals - these contrasts are what hold my attention and keep me engaged).

Decades ago I started my audiophile journey listening cerebrally, critically while noting what moved me as secondary.  I was listening to my system. At some point about 6-7 years ago I found it difficult to listen to my system anymore . . . . because the music kept distracting me and after some time I'd notice my eyes were closed and my body was moving.  I'd forgotten to listen for whether the new preamp improved the sound stage, or the texture of the instruments (timbre) or the retrieval of detail.  Finally I gave up and learned to just float in the music.  A side benefit has been that this addiction has been costing less money.  I am now clearly one who listens for emotional nourishment rather than cerebral satisfaction though I didn't start here.

There is no "one size fits all", no "best".  May you find what you personally enjoy most.

I understand what is meant when people talk about an emotional vs cerebral type of listening, and I have two points to make about that, which you may find interesting.

1) It’s never either/or. No person is 100% one or the other. That’s not how human brains work. We all have our unique configurations, leaning more one way than the other, but both emotions and abstract thinking are regularly involved in the human experience.

2) Why do people like to physically attend a live show? Sure, they like the natural sound, the social engagement, the sensory stimulation, the thrill, and the feeling of doing something special.

But they also go to *watch* the musicians perform in a 3D space, and not *just* to listen to the sound. Even a blind person at a live music event can perceive, probably with extraordinary accuracy, the sense of space within which the performance is happening, as well as the locations of the sounds inside that space. This is one of the reasons why I prefer smaller, intimate venues over gigantic productions.

When we listen to recorded music on 2 channel systems at home, all this talk about "imaging" and "soundstaging" is important to people precisely for the same reason. The experience desired is that of being "as if" we are actually watching it, in addition to listening to it. People live in three dimensions, we experience life in three dimensions, and so we naturally want to have an inner sense of space and dimensionality when we listen to and feel the music that we love.

Having said that, I have an affinity for being in recording studios, so there isn’t a desire within me for my music to represent a live, staged affair which could block my listening enjoyment of most stuff I listen to. 🙂