Speakers and system for compressed recordings?

I feel your pain!! Compression is a fact of life for most music. Darkside of the Moon and Crime of the Century are riddled with compression. What to do? Consider some vintage gear. A good Marantz reciever from the 70's might be a good starting place. I have the humble 2216b Marantz reciever. It was my first stereo and recently had it restored. It sounds pretty good. It's no Krell but I enjoy listening to radio programs on it and on occasion records on my Thorens 125mk2. It's not lo fi you are after but hi fi. Even your local estate sales might turn up some surprising results. Happy hunting!

It is part of a second system, the Marantz. The other stereo is full blown audiophile.

It is part of a second system, the Marantz. The other stereo is full blown audiophile.

Crime of the century suffers from compression especially in the drum kit. It happened in the studios. I have the uhqr, mfsl regular half speed, a&m Canadian half speed, and the gold mfsl c.d. four audiophile versions. All show the same studio compression. It is used to control or restrict dynamics and distortion. And to give the listening public what they want: a uniform sounding product. Vocals forward not drums. Hate it or love it compression is a fact in most studio recordings. You just don't notice it when it is done right. Morph the cat by Donald fagan is very controlled and compressed. I still love the record and try to tune out the compression.

Opened a can of worms did I? Listen, I did not say darkside or crime are bad recordings. They are a product of their time, studios, producers, engineers, and record companies. A uniform good sounding product that speaks to the masses not audiophiles was the intention. My background is the music industry. I hear what I know. Compression is there. Most people don't notice it. It should not be noticed. I look for the flaws and the good in recordings. That is part of the history or DNA of a recording.