Most achingly-beautiful music

Oops, excuse the jumbled last sentence! You get the gist of it, nevertheless.

All of the above are indisputably wonderful pieces, though I do not know much about the jazz and pop items. Three works that I hold very close to my heart are: 1. SCHUBERT String Quintet (D956) - most versions are competent, but the Hollywood String Quartet's version on Testament is very special (the Adagio & Allegreto mvmts, especially). 2. BEETHOVEN Piano Trio in D Op. 70 ('Ghost') - 2nd mvmt. Beaux Arts Trio on Philips is stellar. 3. BARBER Violin Concerto - there are many fine recordings including Gil Shaham, Joshua Bell and Yitzhak Perlman. Permit me to squeeze in a 4th: RACHMANINOV Piano Concerto No.3 with Ashkenazi and Anatole Fistoulari (recently re-issued on DECCA). I could go on and on, but have tried to avoid being too high-brow. I've learned much about the non-classical items and hope to pursue these keenly. Thanks for indulging me! Mark

Srama - I wholeheartedly endorse all your sentiments. Which is why I initiated this thread, but never expected it to germinate in this way. It is very heartening to discover, that, although many of us obsess over our gear, the beauty of music (I believe) is what spurs us to chase after the "holy grail" of life-like musical reproduction. And that is why I feel that audio-lunacy is such a forgivable obsession! (Forgive me if I've sounded too preachy). Again, thanks a ton to all who have continued to share all their musical treasures with the rest of us (and make this such an addictive website). Mark