When I listen to my system.......

I've always wondered about people saying a sound system 'got their foot tapping' or something like that. To me, it was music and a beat that got my foot tapping, whatever it was played on. In the 60's, it was often a hand-held transistor radio. Foot had no problem tapping when Beatles, Stones, etc etc came on. My big audiophile system will not get my foot tapping if it's not playing a song conducive to it. 

Every "performance" is different.

For instance, there is a big difference between watching a 3 man folk piece in a small venue and a full blown Hans Zimmer concert with a full orchestra and all kinds of electronic elements fused together....Or go to a metal concert or maybe you’re watching some North African or Asian musicians who are singing in a language you may not know or playings instruments you don’t know about....How a listener may get into such different performances (accommodates it in his physical/mental space) is its own phenomenon.

You may want to use familiar pieces to tune/tweak your rig, of course. But, if it is a constant thing, it could imply that one’s playlist is a bit restricted, i.e., isn’t too big or eclectic enough. There’s a saying, "familiarity breeds contempt"....i.e., if someone’s listening to the same familiar piece over and over, he may not appreciate the performance all that much anymore and get too focused on nitpicking the audiophile parameters.

Is it because I was a singer / vocalist in my youth? Is it because I was around musicians who shared the joy of "music"? Is it because at a very early age, I was introduced to big band music ....

I’ve been playing a violin since i was single digits old, i am an instrument enthusiast, but, not a pro, i.e., it isn’t my livelihood. But, I hang out with a couple of pro musicians (it is their livelihood). We may get together out of nowhere and be in a creative space together. But, if i were to record some of it and try to listen to it, it typically is a let down...because it rarely captures that creative moment. But, if it was some random recording from an unknown artist, i.e., i wasn’t there when it was recorded, I can accept it as is and enjoy it for what it is... unless there are glaring errors with how it was mastered or something. Musicians need to get paid and i can live without nitpicking someone else’s music.

How can you have your pudding if you don't eat your meat?

Its funny when I think of equipment churner homes I've been to and see literally hundreds of thousands dollars worth of equipment stacked up in boxes or sitting unused on component racks. And then I listen to their 'reference' system which has  a mixture of some very nice equipment alongside lesser components, and this carelessly set up in just an ordinary room. Sound quality serious lacking for me, yet they hear it as state of the art. In my mind I'm thinking about how I could make their system sing with a more sympathetic partnering of equipment they already have in house, alongside some work on room and AC quality. Don't have the heart or lack of grace to criticize when they appear this content so I keep my mouth shut.

Used to attend audio shows quite frequently, often amazed at what passed as good sound, same with audio dealers. And the music played same issue.

Over time I've come to accept that people are into this audiophile thing for all sorts of reasons. Same thing with perceptions of good sound. While I may be curious about what makes people tick, simply not in my purview to judge them, I do my thing, they do theirs.

@larsman

YMMV but I’ve experienced a big (!) difference in the foot tapping factor when changing integrateds. My current Hegel H390 really moves the music along. Its predecessors by contrast were downright sluggish by comparison. And it is not dependent upon the music being played. BTW, I didn’t know what I’d been missing in this regard until I experienced it for myself.