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

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!

No.  Lots of punk and metal aren't recorded well, and can be some of the best music of all time.

I've learned to listen within a multi perspective context. Poorer recordings acceptable, even involving if I perceive the recording as historical and/or unique. This acceptance may wear off after hearing said recording many times, at this point I may not be able to hear past the recording.

Mediocre recordings make up the vast majority of recordings in general and recordings I listen to. All have certain liabilities but generally don't rise to the point where they are unlistenable.

Quality recordings can spoil one. The superiority of these recordings used to make it difficult for me to return to lesser ones.

Listening in a contextual mode allows me to just go with the flow, my listening habits these days find me simply choosing a particular genre and let Roon choose at random, recordings within my library, both streams and rips. Listening to music in this manner means recording quality all over the place, I find I'm far more relaxed when NOT making either the music choices based on particular desires at that moment OR making those choices based on recording quality. Letting go of this manner of self consciousness means I much more easily enter the consciousness of the artists. I entered this hobby with that very intention, takes both equipment and mindfulness to get there.

This all requires fairly long listening sessions (4 hours up) for me, and this is the exclusive way I listen with my main system these days.