The recording means a lot. On the other hand, I have been pleasantly surprised by some recordings I thought were bad, only to find them excellent once my system was brought up to a level that could handle all the information presented.
Vinyl?
I have a Rega P6 and have been listening to some vinyl to break it in but one thing I noticed is that vinyl is not always a better choice. I listened to, for example, Dave Mason's It's Like You Never Left on vinyl and it clearly shows that the original recording was poorly done. Contrast this with Johhny Hodges Blues which is amazing on vinyl.
My advice? Some recordings are worth the investment in vinyl but others aren't because the original recording just wasn't that good.
My advice? Some recordings are worth the investment in vinyl but others aren't because the original recording just wasn't that good.