Music first or sound first?

Last night I happened to listen to Street Corner Talking, and Sticky Fingers.  Street Corner was wonderfully recorded, given it was 53 years ago, and totally engaging still.  Sticky Fingers, while being one of the top 3 Stones recordings (IMHO) is hit and miss, track by track.  Do I love the music?  Absolutely.  Does the sound make it less desirable for me.  Absolutely.   

+1 @wolf_garcia 
 

Nothing beats live music in a good room.  So there’s that too. 

Would have to be music first. I'm perfectly happy working on projects around the shop listening to a cheap Ali-Express bluetooth speaker, but the real magic is when I go to the listening room, sit down, and LISTEN. 

Myself having 40 years in Audio and having owned a Audio store.

I find it distracting and find myself picking apart my system at times and looking to rebuild my system to my standards,  being  semi retired it is not as easy now to buy as frequently as I would like to .for myself $40-$50 k is what I consider a good midrange system by today’s standards,especially since everything went up by 20%+ since covid.

@tomic601 was very kind to invite me over to hear his Vandersteen 7s. That Vandersteen sound I like ... to the max! I could afford a used pair if I financed them over 10 years or sell a kidney. 😂. But he has the Treo CT’s too and has convinced me I would be very happy with them. I have decided to buy and not buy them alternately at least 50 times. Torturing myself is my main hobby.

He also turned me on to new music, and that is where my pleasure comes from now—discoveries. Streaming has rocked my world, and I have discovered more new artists and music than I ever thought possible. An embarrassment of riches!