@frogman just love you post! And to the OP, I do under stand the idea of hierarchy which may have many definitions depending on who you ask. I postulate that as a surrogate or proxy to your direct question and I believe to be true for myself, there might be a relationship between the pleasure derived from the listening and and the amount of time spent researching articles, understanding electrical engineering theory, studying schematics, making informed decisions about purchasing gear, building sound spaces etc. and the pleasure one derives form the mind quieting combination of rhythm and melody from perfect phase and time correct audio signals reaching the ear. OP are you a neurologist? I ask because heard an npr story re neurological studies about brain activity when rhythm and melody are heard together. Peace
Can the level of pleasure derived from music be measured?
This is a real question that I think may have a answer.
With the right probes in a brain can't changes in the pleasure
zone be measured?
I ask because it seems to me that without this measurement
a true audiophile hierarchy can not be claimed.
Thoughts??