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What songs/albums/artists actually sound worse when played through audiophile systems?

As much as audiophile equipment has elevated my enjoyment of music on many levels, there is some great music that just sounds worse than it used to when I had a cheapo system.  My number one example is the artist Ariel Pink (and the Haunted Graffiti).  His album Before Today is one of my all-time favorites, but played on my SET amp w/ Chord DAC and Klipsch Forte IIIs, it just sounds harsh/bad.  I know that my system is very revealing, and I love that about it, but damn, I may have to get a crappier secondary system to enjoy some great low-fi music again.

What songs/albums/artists are painful to listen to through your audiophile system?
redwoodaudio

Showing 2 responses by petg60

petg60
1,486 posts
 
HI,
I have to agree with MC, something is not balanced.
petg60
1,486 posts
 
HI,
 nothing is going to sound worse in a good system (different thing from good components), on the contrary. Surely some recordings will sound better some mediocre, or worse, but even these ones should be enjoyable enough and far from unlistenable. When the worst recordings make sense, are easy to follow, create a believable image and sound like good music (even recorded badly), then you will get much much more from the good one. This is the only way to rediscover your music collection. 
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