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Can a great system make a mediocre recording sound good?

I spend a lot of time searching for well produced recordings as they (of course) sound so good on my system (Hegel 160 + Linn Majik 140 speakers).  I can't tolerate poor sounding recordings - regardless of the quality of the performance itself.   I was at a high end audio store yesterday and the sales person took the position that a really high-end system can make even mediocre recordings sound good.  Agree?

jcs01

Showing 2 responses by sgreg1

sgreg1
612 posts
 

@bigtwins

100% I have a ton of music mostly metal that I enjoy in car and find unlistenable on reference system. These old recordings were engineered to be broadcast over an analog radio signal. Not digitized and run through a $2000 dac and 10 k speakers.

sgreg1
612 posts
 

I find it to be opposite. My really good system makes bad recordings almost unlistenable, It will make average recordings some better some average. All worth it for what it does to good recordings that draw me in to my happy place where nothing matters but the music my ears are deciding. One thing to keep in mind that producers have to engineer a recording for all medium. This means compromises. A lot of people are critical of remasters but if you get a recording that is redone to account for a high end system I am all for it. It is not going against the artists original output but it is taking the compromise in the other direction.

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