SQ vs. Music

My first thought was to dismiss the premise behind the question, but on reflection it is a valid query.  I listen primarily to Classical.  There are many classic pre stereo performances in my collection and I do listen to them.  Restoration techniques are excellent—some of these recordings are nearing the century mark and, such as the Rachmaninov/Stokowski Second Piano Concerto that sounds amazingly vivid-yet even when enjoying it I feel a little niggling unease that I am missing something sonically.  Now, most of the Classical repertoire has been recorded so redundantly that one can find many recordings that do not require music and sonic compromise on the part of the listener.  I learned Beethoven’s Ninth from my parents 78s of Toscanini and the NBC SO, but now I have to be in a special mood for that one, even though it has been restored to a much higher degree to what I heard back in the day