Interesting article on our hearing ability.

[awkwardbydesign]

My view is that some people like to hear the recording (as a sort of intellectual exercise, for want of a better term) and others like to hear the music. I'm sort of in the former camp, I think.

That's honest. I'm in the other camp, I'd prefer a poorly recorded good performance to a well recorded boring performance. So hifi show music leaves me cold.
And the term "hifi" then becomes contentious; to me it means capturing the performance, the emotion. To others it means closest to the studio recording.
And never the twain shall meet.
PS. I have a John Martyn album, Mad Dog Days. It's wobbly and distorted, but alive, and I love it.

[Jimbo]

I like both.

[Rothchild]

I like both.

Me too!

[Macca]

Both is the ideal but you need to spend a few quid on the old TT. And the rest of the kit has to be up to it too.

Even then it isn't straightforward as many an expensive but crappy system will demonstrate.

If i 'm emotionally invested in the music it can still move me. But you don't need hi-fidelity system to do that.