I have always been guilty of liking sound quality and sometimes over classic old recordings which I am really ill at ease with as I cannot hear what is properly going on in say a symphony or piano recital. On the other hand the recording can sometimes be too clean and it all too soon highlights the failings of a conductor or soloists and all you can hear after that are mistakes and faulty intonation and general messiness which makes you think you have just bought a Turkey.
SQ or performance?
In classical music, how much does the sound quality influence your enjoyment of a particular piece? I find it plays a large part. A recording is an artifact in itself. There are many factors which contribute to the final product. And even a great performance can be sabotaged by poor engineering, poor pressing, poor microphone placement and the like. Conversely, a mediocre performance can be attractive to us because of sterling acoustics.
In “historical” recordings we may allow for bad sound, but in contemporary performances the sound can have a significant bearing on our perspective.
Also, our appreciation of a given performance can be affected by other factors. For example, if we grew up loving a certain version, all others may suffer by comparison in our view.