Neutral electronics are a farce...

I'm one of those recording engineers. There are electronics that really are neutral- that don't emphasize the highs while also getting the bass right. The problem areas are in equipment matching, distortions made by equipment that the ear interprets as brightness, speakers that don't have problems of their own, and the media itself.

If you have a recording that you have created, its possible to wade through all the errant examples of hifi and find those that really work. So the answer to this was hidden in the original post.

I'm also a pro sound dude (recording, live sound mixer, musician, bon vivant, lazy older person trying not to seem creepy) and I agree that no gear is "neutral" really, but if you can cobble together a system that demonstrates the differences between things and makes music enjoyable for Active Engaged Listening, that's all you can ask. By the way…ever actually hear what "rich sound engineers" listen to for mixing? It's shocking I tell ya…Yamaha NS10s…man…it varies wildly but often it simply comes out just fine.  And what does "bon vivant" mean anyway?

I am thinking that pro-sound guys, listen, to their studio consoles.

Those damn Yamaha NS10s are everywhere, and Auratones (!) are still around, to mix singles for Radio play (they sound like car speakers). I've been seeing Tannoys in studios lately, but never, ever, audiophile type loudspeakers. Pros use a completely different kind of speaker, and EQ to make music sound "good" on them. Wonder why their recordings played back on your home speakers sounds "wrong"?!

Some studio consoles are excellent and others not so good.

I do a lot of listening on Grado headphones; they are trustworthy.

We built up 6 channels of vacuum-tube microphone preamps which are wired directly into the tape machines- no intervening mixer console; no EQ, nothing but the mic. Our monitors are made by High Emotion Audio and are very fast and revealing. I don't think there is any Yamaha gear in the entire recording chain...