in my experience our love of the music pushes us to want better sound. then as we pursue music, and our tastes expand, the improving performance of our systems enables us to enjoy a wider and wider musical horizon.
so the better sound opens up musical opportunities, and that process is never ending.
this was my path. when i heard my 60’s and 70’s rock sound (graduated H.S in 1969) better as a budding audiophile in 1994, i started reading about jazz and classical recordings, which i knew nothing about. these were the most accessible versions of jazz and classical. but on my system they sounded good. it was something new to me. and as i improved the sound in my system, i ventured wider and wider with new music.
15 years later i’m into avant-garde jazz and 20th Century classical. this was made possible by improving the performance of my system. now 30 years after becoming a serious audiophile i listen to 70% classical, 20% jazz, and 10% pop/rock.
music and sound are an enabling partnership.
sure; i can enjoy ’demo’ sounds for short periods, where the focus is on sonic parlor tricks. my system is capable of doing very large scale music, and has really no practical limitations. it’s 3db down at 7hz and 6db down at 3hz.
but my system and it’s performance serves the music, and my enjoyment of it. as my system has improved i'm getting more and more immersion in the music.