no need for the :-)  - it was a serious point - clearly Beethoven would have wanted to be able to hear his work performed - if only to criticise his interpretors - but actually being able to hear it in all its hifi glory was not a pre-condition for him to be able to write it, and neither should it be a precondition for us to be able to appreciate it.  The limiting factor is us, not the equipment.

notes from no w here