Too many bad recordings out there to just trust your ears.
Case in point. So many recordings have a "grunge" (maybe digital?) to them due to whatever somewhere along the process of getting the original session to the final CD. Better recordings don't exhibit this, but I find it to be somewhat common, maybe especially among earlier CDs. Additionally, it is frequency dependant and my L200/300s barely exhibit it at all..., but also miss so much else in this frequency area.
I designed my own speakers in and for the room in which they are used and have been tweaking them (e.g., changes to the crossovers) for years. I found with the right part selection, I could get rid of the grunge and most things just sounded better without it.
BUT!!! I found that it's removal had artifacts. For example, the Hohner Clavinet through the wa-wa pedal lost some of its characteristic "jaw harp" sound. Ultimately, I figure that the grunge is there and any truely high fidelity system is going to exhibit it in the microdetail.
