What Is Most Important?

To respond to the ops actual question, for ultimate enjoyment, being able to share it with other people. When you are your death bed, are you going to remember back fondly to that time you were sitting in your basement, alone, listening to a great track?  Unlikely and I hope not. Sitting with a good friend, sipping some premium Scotch, and enjoying tunes .... quite possibly.   I would rather make memories than pass the time.

Clean ears and don't expect too much.

small pre-birthday dinner party last night

5 of us actively picking favorites from my cd/sacd collection for 4 hrs. what a mixed bag, what a blast.

am I the only person who mentioned sharing the music with friends? (as produced by our wonderfully assembled systems).

my new to me Sony xa5400es player sounded awesome, and, I pushed the speakers back to make more room around the table and 'found' a very nice l/c/r distribution for several off center listeners. today I will compare it to my prior 'two person' toe-in position.

The media is the largest changing variable in how any system performs. IMHO 

@nutty

The media is the largest changing variable in how any system performs. IMHO

I’d agree also.

There’s a huge market in reissues and remastering, and just once in a while, they get it right.

I’m not sure about classical releases but with pop, more often than not, the original CD issues from the 1980s still remain the best.

A good example is the Beatles, where more or less everything after Revolver is best found on the original 1987 releases.

With classical, I suspect that since far more care was taken of the original recording quality, subsequent remastering is usually less of a concern.

Disappearing act, that a well setup system does. This is most important to me.

@cd318 - indeed there are some decent releases from the 80's, but there are bands like Midnight Oil, Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Metallica, and loads of others whose mid-80's released CD's are horrible - low volume and compressed to death. Fortunately re-masters have come out of all of these....

I am going to say amplification.    Sure , speakers are crucial .  But how many of us can afford or have the space for our dream speaker?   

My Zesto pre and Toolshed Amps 300b have definitely elevated my system to audio nirvana.    Anyone with preconceived notions of Klipsch Forte IV would be quite surprised how they sound driven by great equipment.   While not my end game speaker they are pretty satisfying until that day arrives .  

I would like to add that I believe many speakers are sold due to chasing "that sound",  when in fact MANY are quite good and not driven to their full potential by the amps / preamps they are paired with.   

@panzrwagn 

"Engagement. If the system, modest or mammoth, engages you then it's all good.  If for whatever reason it doesn't engage you, you'll never be happy"

+1

@theaudioamp

"To respond to the ops actual question, for ultimate enjoyment, being able to share it with other people. When you are your death bed, are you going to remember back fondly to that time you were sitting in your basement, alone, listening to a great track? Unlikely and I hope not"

Personally, I hope my capacity for enjoying any type of creative expression never becomes dependent upon whomever else happens to be in the room. 

@jerryrocks weed, whites and wine. If you are quoting Willin by Little Feat.

@juanmanuelfangioli

f / wrong all those years..

@jerryrocks your post made me listen to it and look up the lyrics .