My thinking is that in both photography and audio it starts with composition. Then how that which is compose gets presented.
Heck, sometime my thinking leads me astray.:-)
Lessons of youth
So a buddy of mine in a photography group is 16 and 'inherited' from his aunt a complete Technics stereo from circa 1992. It includes a receiver, CDP, turntable and a set of speakers. During COVID, I was able to help him clean it and set it up. He's been having a blast collecting CDs and vinyl and it reminds me so much of myself when I was his age. Better yet, I've been talking to him about doing some minor 'upgrades' that he could afford but he's not really interested. He's not into specs, cables, etc....he just wants to enjoy the music. He listens to everything from Rush, Bon Jovi (his favorite) to Kraftwerk. It seems like I'm learning from him now. Remember to enjoy the journey (and the music).