Do you listen to equipment or music.

I sold a bunch in 70's as well . In 50 years + in audio I have bought many hundreds of pieces . ONLY thing I ever bought that I thought ugly were
phono carts .

The experience of great music on junky little devices is a phenomenon most of us have had. Some folks easily get into the great performance despite the poor equipment. A few, just are revolted by the sound so much they cannot listen.
Another form of this is the great performance with dismal sonics. being readily enjoyable on any system, average, good or spectacular. Verses average/blah performance with outstanding sonics that are the meat of some high end system owners listening.
Same animal.
To me, THAT is the division between music listeners, and equipment mavens.

Hi everyone, 
my name is josh. It’s been 9 months and 7 days since I last opened my “testing” playlist.
:)

My testing playlist is my general favorites. To me, the fact i know my favorites inside out upside down is the best reason to use them.When I get a surprise.. something I really never heard or noticed before THAT gets my attention when auditioning some new equipment.

In my case I buy equipment that I think will inprove the sound of the music in my system When that upgrade happens I listen to the music the upgrade produces not the equipment itself.