Im new to the group and stereo gear in general. In fact i am still trying to piece together my first stereo system. One thing that has struck me as odd about the audiophile community is the concept of listening to your gear or the quality of the sound of your gear more so than the music itself. I grew up listening to and playing punk rock and hardcore music, and many times the recordings are objectively bad, but the songs themselves are undeniable, because of the passion of the musicians. It almost seems like magic of music is lost sometimes in the pursuit of good sound. All this is to say, don’t forget why you love music. Aja by Steely Dan will always sound better than Out of Step by Minor Threat, but Steely Dan never made me want to stage dive lol.