The opposite for me, Andy ā I listened to everything beforeā¦but Iāve since learned via Roon Radio that āeverythingā is broader than I knew it to be
What makes me really happy is that Iāve got to a system where it all sounds good. There have been times in the past where some genres sounded fantastic, but certain old faves sounded like garbage. No longer!
The post title is an interesting question. My first, short, answer is that age
and experience have changed my music choices, mainly. Having said that, there is one example where kit has made a difference: until recently, recordings of solo harpsichord in large doses brought on a feeling of being slowly plucked to death, even when the music was great. The sound was hard to take after a while. Vivaldi (kit not composer) has changed that. One of the CDs I have, recorded in quite a reverbeant acoustic, sounded almost rich and sonorous. Not what one usually
associates with a harpsichord. Delightful.
Age and experience have brought me to jazz more than anything else, and latin/Brazilian to a lesser extent. Much - though not all - pop/rock just sounds too simple after being on a jazz diet for a long time. I try to get the best available recordings (XRCD, DCC [label not format], Mobile Fidelity, SACDs in general) but definitely donāt choose music by that criterion. Wouldnāt want to be thought an audiophile!
I donāt know if itās necessarily my kit that caused it, but certainly my taste in music has evolved over the years, basically broadened a lot more than I would have expected during my growing years. When the wife came along, it evolved again.
One benefit of the lock-down has been all the additional āfreeā time thats allowed me to re-explore stuff I listened to in my youth!
Well, age will certainly creep up on you whether you like it or not. As for experience: I donāt know you well enough to say! Seriously, though, for me age means that pop/rock/dance (and all their sub-genres) made by 20-somethings doesnāt say anything to me that I really want to hear, and experience means that I understand much more about more demanding/complex music than I once did. So I appreciate it more. Of course that is a gross simplification and, despite the understanding I think I have, Iām still in awe of those who know jazz and other āseriousā music in ways/depth I never will. And, yes, yes, jazz doesnāt have to be entirely serious. The size of my Marty Grosz collection rather undermines anything I have to say about a preference for āseriousā music.
I donāt think that is the cause
