I studied socio-linguistics at university, and I remember a particular survey that showed that our reactions to accents is somewhat complex.
I group of Brits were asked to listen to various English accents and list them: most pleasing first, most unattractive last.
The top spots were dominated by "rural" accents, and the big cities London, Birmingham, Liverpool etc came at the bottom. Indeed, the only city that did well was Newcastle (i.e. Geordie ).
Now, here's the interesting bit!
When they played the same accents to Americans the results were all over the place. Liverpool, for example, was placed near the top.
The outcome suggested that our choice of "pleasing" accents can be related to how we view the source of the accent ( ie rural vs cities ).