Preference

Quick late-night thought:

Why do I prefer one sound over another? Just in terms of pure timbre, blends of timbres. etc.

I just thought of buying an album online, but upon hearing a sample I thought "Nah, I've never liked the sound of [ name of instrument ]".

The instrument doesn't matter. But why don't I like that sound? And why do I prefer others over it? I suppose there could be any number of reasons-- cultural, experiential, blah blah-tial. But by the same token, I've sometimes found myself saying "I really like the sound of..." and when queried as to why, I've always been stumped.

I should think about how and why these preferences arise, in my own practice and in the sounds I choose to experience.

The question is: how do I figure out how to figure this out? Which approach will help me approach this?