I agree with Rar1 and Plato. I have been at this for some 37 years and my current system makes most CD's sound adequate/good and some excellent. The SACD's pretty much follow suit, some merely good and some excellent. It's not very often a cd sounds really bad(but every once and a while.)
I have chosen equipment carefully and use components that have been said to and proven to be very neutral which generally means they will sound good with more than a few "Selected" audiophile approved discs. The search for this system has cost me many hours of frustration with a lot of equipment and untold dollars spent in this frustration!
It takes a lot of years to understand audio and cut through the hype(and boy is there a lot of that!)
Audio manufacturers try to offer something that everyone will buy and go to great lengths trying to distinguish their sound and/or themselves from some other manufacturer. In the process, they have thrown true "Audio" out the door. They have also tried to use price to dictate quality(ha-what a joke there!) They use the formula that if we offer this for X amount of money, just think what another few thousand will buy. I love how some of the booming bass and egg frying highs are passed off as "Great audio!" and with some very expensive equipment)
Cd's do not allow the total connection with the music that good analoque will allow. I grew up with all those albums. But if you are careful and use your ears, you can put together a very, very satisfying system that sounds good most of the time and doesn't cost an arm and a leg to boot.
Don't believe all the hype, realize that dealer setups are often skewed(for reasons that are obvious!)and some dealers just don't take time to set the equipment up properly. It takes a while to judge a system. One listen in a showroom want cut it and there is no substitute for experience. If a dealer doesn't ask about your listening preferences and room acoustics---run for cover! If he asks you how much you have to spend right off the bat---run!
There is some very good equipment made by manufacturers who care about the art. They go to great lengths to try and offer "Honest" audio to you. Do your research and you will see who these people are. Otherwise, you are reaching into a grab bag and hoping that your thousands will survive the test of time!
I have chosen equipment carefully and use components that have been said to and proven to be very neutral which generally means they will sound good with more than a few "Selected" audiophile approved discs. The search for this system has cost me many hours of frustration with a lot of equipment and untold dollars spent in this frustration!
It takes a lot of years to understand audio and cut through the hype(and boy is there a lot of that!)
Audio manufacturers try to offer something that everyone will buy and go to great lengths trying to distinguish their sound and/or themselves from some other manufacturer. In the process, they have thrown true "Audio" out the door. They have also tried to use price to dictate quality(ha-what a joke there!) They use the formula that if we offer this for X amount of money, just think what another few thousand will buy. I love how some of the booming bass and egg frying highs are passed off as "Great audio!" and with some very expensive equipment)
Cd's do not allow the total connection with the music that good analoque will allow. I grew up with all those albums. But if you are careful and use your ears, you can put together a very, very satisfying system that sounds good most of the time and doesn't cost an arm and a leg to boot.
Don't believe all the hype, realize that dealer setups are often skewed(for reasons that are obvious!)and some dealers just don't take time to set the equipment up properly. It takes a while to judge a system. One listen in a showroom want cut it and there is no substitute for experience. If a dealer doesn't ask about your listening preferences and room acoustics---run for cover! If he asks you how much you have to spend right off the bat---run!
There is some very good equipment made by manufacturers who care about the art. They go to great lengths to try and offer "Honest" audio to you. Do your research and you will see who these people are. Otherwise, you are reaching into a grab bag and hoping that your thousands will survive the test of time!