Good question!
I personally distinguish two separate joys when listening to a recording. I may enjoy just the sound, sound quality, how different instruments are recorded and reproduced, and of course I mainly enjoy the music I am listening to. If the music I like is well recorded then I enjoy double, in fact the dependence is not linear perhaps even it is exponential. Lately I find myself that often I tend not to listen to music that I like but which is not well recorded. At the same time, for such recordings, I try to choose appropriate equipment or even listen to that recording in my car where the imperfections become less notable. Then you just enjoy the music and "forget" about sound quality.
I admit that too much dependence on sound quality is not good - a "weakness" that we acquire with good audio gear. At the same time, good audio equipment makes possible to appreciate fully the music you like.
I personally distinguish two separate joys when listening to a recording. I may enjoy just the sound, sound quality, how different instruments are recorded and reproduced, and of course I mainly enjoy the music I am listening to. If the music I like is well recorded then I enjoy double, in fact the dependence is not linear perhaps even it is exponential. Lately I find myself that often I tend not to listen to music that I like but which is not well recorded. At the same time, for such recordings, I try to choose appropriate equipment or even listen to that recording in my car where the imperfections become less notable. Then you just enjoy the music and "forget" about sound quality.
I admit that too much dependence on sound quality is not good - a "weakness" that we acquire with good audio gear. At the same time, good audio equipment makes possible to appreciate fully the music you like.