Seems to me, @emergingsoul that you may be after a moving target. How revealing do you want, and what’s your indicator(s) for revealing? If it’s purely listening-derived through time as you encounter new products, you’re in a head game against yourself. That could be a hard one to win.
You gave half an equation - you liked stuff easily during uni and didn’t judge it so strictly. What about now? No system description from you and no criteria for what you value in a playback listening experience, means most folks don’t have much to directly compare their own experiences with (hence part of the reason for more time needed to prevent some of their long answers, eh?). 😉
@willyht interesting approach re: easing into volume, Stairway to Heaven-style. I’m the opposite; since I don’t make time for listening every day, I like to open up with a bang. More of a live music type-of-enjoyment that gives me. Then I modulate through lower, softer tracks, back-and-forth. To each their own and all, eh?
@mitch2 gotta be restrained with how to cut costs on our emptiness-nurse options. Where I live, I can listen to countless hifi brands within a handful of blocks for free when the urge strikes, but drinking alcohol means buying it, and liquor has a 100% import tax where I live. Sometimes there are multiple great options available, but zero cheap options for purchase! 😉