What of your CD's have good sonics?

I agree with Elizabeth's viewpoint. Why? Because I admit it happened to me.

I also agree with Mapman. Recording techniques and goals vary by engineer, cd, genre/style (i.e.; popular, hip hop, jazz, rock, classical) time of recording (60's, 70's, 80's etc.), studio, and so on.

So if we can hear all these differences; good or bad, pleasant or unpleasant or whatever you want to call it, through our systems is that not a testament to the systems ability to reproduce the signal it is fed without adding its' own colorations? Neutrality? Isn't that one of the goals?

If a system were to make all recordings sound good (or bad for that matter) wouldn't that be a bad thing?

Once one comes to realize all recordings will sound different, you can put this behind you, kickback and enjoy!

To answer the question: I like all the music on my CDs. Most of them are recorded well enough that I can listen to them without a second thought. Some of them are less enjoyable sonically but I still like the music and listen to them anyway.

Regards

I have found personally that it is hard if not impossible to "have it all." When I had Spendor SP100s, their softer treble and slightly blunted transient attack made a lot of harsh sounding CDs easier on the ears. My current speakers don't do that, but they also show me a lot more about the recording in other ways, and that is very enjoyable too. It's all about the realistic trade-offs that the listener is willing to make within the limits of what they can afford, as well as what is possible in their listening room.

Having read all comments and given the subject some thought, I've come to a conclusion about my feelings about this issue. I like to listen to music that sounds good. I'm that way about it when I sit around the house playing guitar. I enjoy the sound of a well tuned instrument. I've always been that way about recorded music too. My wife will listen to a song and start singing along. She always remembers the lyrics. For her, the song is about the words. I can never remember lyrics. For me it has always been the sound. I WILL listen to old blues records and old recordings for the historical value and to listen to the way the musicians played. I can listen right through the primitive recordings and all the pops and sizzles and really appreciate the musicians. But when I'm laying back in my recliner trying to escape the vicissitudes of life it is all about the glorious sound. I rarely sit in the "sweet" spot. I'm usually off axis in my recliner. I enjoy sitting in the sweet spot but for me it involves moving a chair around. If I change rooms at some point then I will try to remedy this situation, but for now it is not so important for me to be in the sweet spot all the time. For me it is all about the tone and the clarity of the sound. But as always: Everybody's mileage will vary.

Having said all of this, what I would REALLY like to be doing right now is swinging in a hammock under a palm tree, sipping a cool one and listening to some Buffett blare through a Walmart boom box!

This tune off the surf music box set "Cowabunga"

Shoot That Curl

The song sounds fantastic plus there is over 2 minutes of beach waves breaking sound effects at the end that might fool you into thinking you are out hanging ten with your eyes closed.

My experience is simple. I have nearly all redbook cds. The ones that come out the best -- the "special edition" ones generally but most specifically -- I have a few HDCDs and the DAC and black box to decode them. These are just more than a cut above the standard. As for SACD -- well -- I don't have an outboard SACD decoder so I rely on the one inside my highly modded Sony SCD-C555ES -- it's all right but I only listen in two-channel so -- kinda what's the point?

The HDCD format was limited, killed and yet when decoded properly -- is great -- IME that is.