Originally Posted by genejockey

I remember the discussions back in the 1980s about the reason audiophiles preferred vinyl and vacuum tubes was that these 'enhanced' the sound - tubes particularly producing a 'warmer' sound in the midrange - and whether the goal should be more accurate sound, even if it wasn't as pleasing.

Which strikes me as an odd discussion to have -
"This sounds like crap!"
"Yeah? Well maybe the original recording session sounded like crap! Shouldn't we listen to the crappy, but correct sound?"