Usually I try to listen to a few different versions until I land on one that really clicks with me. It takes a little bit to really understand what that means. To me the orchestra is less important than the director. The music is always the same, but the director decides which parts will pop out the most, how fast the tempo is, and how he wants the orchestra to play parts.

I'll use the beethoven example again.

Here is the version that I don't like. That was the "familiar" version I knew, and I didn't like it so I never listened to this piece.

When I got into my current classical kick, I went to Spotify and stumbled on this version: https://open.spotify.com/track/4mw5oRBKNBfNV0dXAOIcne

I literally picked it because I thought the album cover was interesting because it had some color. A lot of classical albums are committed to black and white for some reason.

Googling a piece can help, especially if you search for like "beethoven 5th best recordings." You'll find a lot of opinions out there, and it can help you get a starting point for a given piece to go from.

If you find yourself wanting to go to a more "comfortable" version, it means something in the recording you're listening to isn't clicking with you. That's OK! Try to identify what it is that makes you not like that recording, and what the one you prefer does differently that makes you prefer it. It helps to write it down; if you make posts here or on Mastodon that may help a lot with articulating what you do or don't like (and boost engagement).

Seemingly "simple" things like "i think this section is too fast" or "the version I like has the horn section louder here, but this version focussed on the windpipes" really influence how you hear the music and make a big difference, and are completely valid reasons to prefer one recording over another.