Does Heavy Metal music benefit from a high end audio system?

The many complex nuances and intricate syncopated rhythms that are often never heard in HM would be revealed in all their magnificence when played on very high end audio system.

Do HM disciples actually think that Led Zeppelin was HM? What?

@aubbrin   

 Classics like zeppelin etc sound great, but I would call that metal, not heavy metal.

During their time, Led Zeppelin released 9 studio albums, or 10 if you  include Coda.  One was a double album.

Name 10 songs that any self respecting proponent of metal would regard as being "metal".  I'll accept perhaps less than 10 if that's 9 too many.

@cd318, pedantic is good. Heavy rock is just that. It may be loud, with lots of shrieking vocals and dominant electric guitar, boisterous and many other things of merit. That was a few Zep songs. Levee was very much blues, a country-blues song originally written and recorded by a couple of folk in 1929.

Just as with other examples some have provided which are clearly nowhere near metal, like AC/DC.

Metal enthusiasts would quite possibly take exception to instances where this distinction is blurred by people who don't know or don't care. Musicians find this important.

Dave Grohl quoted Lemmy (late of Motorhead) - "Lemmy’s the king of rock ’n’ roll—he told me he never considered Motörhead a metal band, he was quite adamant." {from Wiki}

Yeah, I found that slightly surprising, too - but quite understandable.

And importantly, since this is a thread about Heavy Metal, a sub-genre of Metal itself, we must be even more careful. Unlike politicians who are tutored in the art of deflection when asked a direct question, we have nothing to gain by not being focused.

Its only fair. Zeppelin didn't even come close. Ever.

But the few times I’ve heard heavy metal, I couldn’t help but notice it was so compressed that whatever fidelity good audio gear brings to the party might not be as noticeable on typical recordings in this genre.

Of course, that wouldn’t hold true for well recorded heavy metal.

Compression can be especially true of some metal, but it is by no means a defining characteristic - so you are correct that there is well recorded/produced metal. Check out the link provided above and simply type in the artist for a measure of compression. Red very compressed (bad?). Green/yellow not compressed (good?).  That was an edit - I was initially imposing a judgement, now bracketed.

Many quite well known and contemporary artists who are miles away from metal also issue very compressed recordings. Not that I know many these days, being over the age of consent. Difficult to listen to without quickly becoming fatigued, I wish it were otherwise.

@arcticdeth That is all priceless. 

with a very few exceptions, %94 of bands listed here are NOT metal.

I think that number might be a bit low, but anyway, your point is well made by someone who knows exactly what they are talking about.