The Forest for the Trees

I can manage mediocre music (for at least a little while) if the reproduction is good enough and if the music is good enough I can stand a pretty terrible recording, but when it's a great recording of great music I'm on top of the world.  I gotta say, too, that there's plenty of stuff out there that does ring both bells.  It's what powers my love of this hobby/obsession.  I never get tired of it.  I never burn out.

Like edcyn said, there's something about certain recordings, call it clarity, that really grabs my attention and takes a song to a different level. To me, it sounds like you could hear a pin drop in the recording studio. These recordings share instrument separation and zero muddiness or thudding base line. A few examples:
Shine On You Crazy Diamond - Pink Floyd
Rhythm of the Rain - Dan Fogelberg
How Do I Live - LeAnn Rimes
I Can't Make You Love Me - Bonnie Raitt
Ride Like the Wind - Christopher Cross (listen to the clarity in the backing vocals by Michael McDonald)
Ribbon in the Sky - Stevie Wonder

Yes, several of these are very mellow piano based love songs which likely leads to clarity in the recordings, but the vocals are also extremely clear and unprocessed. For me, that "clarity" takes these songs to a different level and it's easy to get lost in them.

O   M   G.............

Damn...I've lived long enough to witness Clarity smite the 'Audiophiles'.

Y'all been cooped up long enough to get bored enough to 'zone out' and actually enjoy your stack o'stuff...

...without excessing over 'what doesn't seem Right'....

Whatever you're drinking/smoking/ingesting, or creating this level of existential ennui...keep it up. 👍👌😉

Enjoying On Every Street by Dire Straits tonight. Toes are tapping and I’m really looking forward to My Parties and Planet New Orleans!

I like this thread - I do like listening to music and one of my drivers for investing money is because I listen to music loud.  (I really was a field artillery officer).

Some things such as bi-wiring, balanced inputs and optical vs digital coaxial insights and encouragement for testing has been really useful.

Some descriptions of sound have gone over my head - yet I can appreciate the folks who want more watts or monoblock amps!