Does it have to sound good for you to like it?

Of course the music has to sound great. Why spend thousands or tens of thousands of dollars on equipment if a car radio is good enough? On the other hand, who wants to listen to music beautifully rendered if you don’t like it? The other aspect is how distracted do you get when the production quality is good but not great? I get too distracted by that for my own good.

immatthewj, of course the better your rig is the more you hear all the distortion and noise and compression and lack of things that should be there, but on the other hand you also hear more of what you want to hear. I strongly prefer this to hearing less of everything, both good and bad, on lesser system.

I belong to a small group of friends who get together once a month “for music night”. It all began at my home with my  system, which, in this forum, is a tad beyond entry-level,  but to all the others in the group,  is extraordinary.  Though I have the more robust system, we don’t convene at my home exclusively. We take turns meeting at each member’s home, allowing each member to host and present/share their music, food, wine/drinks and good company. Most of the members have various consumer-level listening stations: AV receivers, Bluetooth soundbars and even the TV!  But, we’ve (I’ve), made it a central tenet that equipment level is not a requirement, other than having something to play music on.  Some evenings  this can be a bit of a challenge for me, as I do love it when music sounds good, and quietly nash my teeth when it’s being played on less than  “adequate” equipment.  But, I love these guys, and the way they love music; and, most of them know their music, to the nines!  I learn so much from them and get inspired hearing music I never would have known about without them.  I can then return home and listen at my level of appreciation.  And that’s fine.  And, when its my turn, I get to show-off a little and be  the  “audiophile” of the group.  Cool beans, especially for the A’goner tadpole that I am.  So, to to OP, thanks for the post!

+1 audiodidact …am in a vinyl club with similar experiences 

This conversation has had a lot of contributors Skating  Backwards and some even Crying (a little bit)

There is No Crying in Baseball! (I mean audio)

**** But, I love these guys, and the way they love music; and, most of them know their music, to the nines!  I learn so much from them and get inspired hearing music I never would have known about without them.  I can then return home and listen at my level of appreciation. ****

…..and THAT is the point.  Good on you, audiodidact!