I'm into this for the music. But, since I love music and its sounds, I'm always trying to improve those sounds to enjoy the music more.
Everything is relative, of course. At the time the earlier composers didn't have the advantages of certain instruments, they were happy eliciting the best of what was available, the sounds produced by those more primitive instruments. They were not interested in the sounds per se, but in the music possible through those sounds.
Non-live listeners have always had that technological limitation, whether it was monaural radio or more rude playback systems, whether the sound was accompanied by friction noises or other gross disturbances, they enjoyed it the best they could.
Today we enjoy more of the live playing sound experience in our playback systems thanks to that evolution. Still, we face fidelity barriers but we are happy with what we have, so long as it is close enough to what the available possibilities are (our references).
So, in this evolving music playback journey, the sound resembles more and more the real thing. Not different from other human endeavors, masses get more access to what used to be the exclusive privilege of the very few (enjoyment from 'good' live music).
Like in everything else, there are no absolutes in playback music sound perception, just a relative reflection of our own evolving acquired references. This is what keeps us on the quest for that slightly better sounding piece of music we like, just to enjoy it more.
Maybe a big inducer to this process is being the kind of people with that slightly special affinity/sensitivity to music, relative to the majority. If you enjoy a cello sonata, that audio system better not betray those timbres and the subtle and compelling rasp of the bow over the strings. You may not require that level of playback precision from metallic rock, maybe?
I hope this makes sense to all. If not, don't flame me