Quality of recording vs Musical tastes

Sean,
I think you are close to the defining lines of what makes the difference between an audiophile and that of a music fan.
I think the path you have taken is fine personally I try to veer away from that stance but I've flirted with it,to me really well-produced or recorded music that doesn't entertain,excite or produce an emotional response in me is pointless.
Having been on this forum for a while I find some of the stuff that people like in terms of modern stuff to be frankly a bit bland and dull.
Of course this is only my opinion but it does strike there is an element of finding music that sounds great on your system rather than any real musical investigation in terms of finding exciting new or even old stuff.
It appears to me a rather technical approach to music than an emotional one.
I really can't agree that all modern popular recordings are bad but then I'm more interested in the musical content than the recording.
Sometimes there is new great stuff that isn't as well recorded as I would like.
I approach my musical investigation from a different and in my opinion more productive stance and that is I read about it.
I buy all the music mags,sometimes I read about obscure lost classics that I feel I need to buy and sometimes it's new stuff..............
To honour the spirit of your post I would highly recommend Point by a Japanese guy called Cornelius,it's not exactly mainstream but it is very musical,it's not unlike a Brian Wilson type thing meets modern cutting and pasting,it is melodic and beautiful in an ambient way in places.
It's on Matador records,just released and the bonus is (imho)that it is one of the best recordings I have ever heard.
The album is segued together,with many sonic tricks not unlike what Floyd used to do although the music is more on an avant-garde pop level.

I'm totally into the remaster side of things,I've ended up with multiple versions of certain artists releases because of it.
I think that is a seperate point from Sean's original post though.
I also think regarding remasters it's nearly always stuff we've been familar with for a long time.
I hope my original post didn't infer that the quality of production wasn't important to me, it is and was even before I got into hi-fi on a serious level,even a basic system will reveal differences on production/sound quality.
However it isn't how I approach finding new music.........

Sean,
I don't think we are that far apart in our views really,I think there are subtle differences between us.
I think we have arrived at the same destination-a wide collection of various musical styles and quality of recordings but have got there by slightly different motivations...however I do find that in some ways and I don't mean this as an offensive statement,that the pursuit of audiophile quality recordings seems to lead to quite conservative music or established musical forms in my opinion,now quite clearly a lot of members have very wide tastes in music but it is seldom I read about music that I want to buy from Audiogon members....there are exceptions CFB recently recommended the Zero 7 CD which I went out and bought.
To back up my argument I haven't seen too many interesting recommendations from your post which I think is a great post-it raises many interesting questions.
What it is also clear from being on this forum is that I am the exception it is quite obvious the number of members that have turned each onto a lot of music is massive.
I believe this is down to similarity in thinking and approach to music but also trust because this forum has become something of a community.
I do also remember that this site is about the pursuit of audio excellence and I have had a great amount of advice both on and off list from much more experienced people than myself.
Since I come from a slightly different angle at times I like to throw in my tuppence worth in the hope that the odd member might be interested in some music that I have come across from my different journey and I believe the album I recommended on my previous post Point by Cornelius is both interesting musically and of audiophille quality.