Once I had the pleasure of some college students playing a 4 instrument string ensemble at my home. The warmth, volume (!) and nuance of 4 string instruments blew me away. My gear couldn't even get close to reproducing that.
It was later I concluded we listen to gear and not music. Sure music is playing through our gear but it's the gear we select, fuss with, trade, upgrade, lust after, plan for and play with. Music is merely the media for our gear to shine with.