I think many people would go into a state of shock if they understood how young and inexperienced most of us were "back in the day." We had great support and there was always someone around having more experience when we got stuck but pop music has always been an industry of 20 year olds. It's ironic, at this point we've had significantly more time to "learn" digital recording than most of the people recording the most famous recordings on analog multitrack tape ever did.
Back on the topic of speakers, it's also very important for musicians to be able to hear playback as loud as what they heard as they performed or else they really lose enthusiasm which has a negative impact on performance.
