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

Bob Dylan at Royal Albert Hall. Probably considered a poor recording. I love that album so count me in on a person that will listen to poor recordings!

OP,

I know what you mean. I was just comparing several different recordings of Shostakovich’s 5th symphony. Poor quality recording gets dismissed immediately, there are quite a few of those. But I was in a real quandary between two, one more recent (Boston Symphony 2023 I believe) very well recorded one where i felt the conductor sped things up in places and lost the impact of the piece. So, I went back to my “go to”… 1980 Cleveland orchestra version… while clearly less resolution, the performance was worth it for me.

But in general, I’m not interested in poor recordings 

Classical music for me is predominately piano or piano with orchestra, not much violin with orchestra or piano-violin and lil-to-nothin for opera. 

Solo piano is another level that have to be near-perfectly recorded. That is the case that I would not listen if piano is compromised!

On the other hand, I have bootleg of Pink Floyd "Live In Pompeii" that I would listen a lot more often than perfectly recorded and mastered DSOM or The Wall.

I would not listen if the sound is poor.

I know people are tired of me saying the same thing ad nauseum. There are beautiful "performances" in all of our recordings. I will listen to bootlegs or any quality cd (still my main source), for the musicianship, the composition and the artistic expression. I find it sad that many here will not listen to some great music if they feel the recording is poor. My main rig allows me to hear all of this, more than my car or phone/headphones. As an example, I have many BBC Sessions cds by Hendrix, Zep, Beatles and many more. From the Hendrix release "Blues", "Born Under A Bad Sign", is a perfect example of exactly what I am talking about. This recording (if you are a fan of Hendrix, or maybe not) can teach you to listen to the musicians, first. Lots of fabulous studio sounds as well. I recommend everyone listen to it, even Classical listeners. Maybe this should be posted under "music"? Sorry rv, but it is an example of your thread. Using a recording of a solo violin as an example, if the violin sounds a bit "tinny", stop paying the most attention to the "sound" and "location" of the instrument, and turn your attention to the virtuosity of the violinist. This is my take of course. No matter what I want to listen to, my main rig gets the play. My best, MrD.

I'd say, poorly recorded analog recording definitely sounds better on better systems, but with digital...it's inconclusive to me.

I find many poorly recorded albums are more enjoyable on secondary systems or in the car...

No. Great recorded sound is the icing on the cake. I still love cake; icing or not.

yes

I will listen to great music regardless of the recording quality or the equipment I have at the moment, including iphone.

.......yes. I had CD's on Billie Holiday and Sam Cooke as well as older blues and jazz and ended up trading them in as it was too '' hard '' to listen to and enjoy.     

I have favorites that are not well recorded. For example, this gem from Chuck Mangione, which also has some flaws in its performance. It was never released on CD or streaming - LP only, as far as I know. But it’s a great piece of music. You either get it, or you don’t.

(Naturally, the LP sounds much better than the YT lossy audio.)

Yes, The recording needs to sound good for me to like it.   :-)

I can tolerate a few issues, however, my patience is has its limits. Especially with anything that gets in the way of an immersive experience.

Yes, and that holds for any genre. I’m a big Steely Dan fan, but I won’t listen to their earlier CDs or stream on my system — too compromised in too many areas (will try the vinyl though whenever I get my TT up n running again). If I wanna listen to that stuff I’ll listen on my earbuds or a Bluetooth speaker where all the warts and limitations are mostly glossed over. Kinda sad, but that’s me.