As system improves, do bad recordings sound worse?

I hear you. I guess it's what we have to live with. They're starting to re-master some of that old stuff. You do have to really like some of those tunes to overlook the problems.

The last 2 paragraphs of this review by a very well respected UK hi-fi reviewer, is the opinion I also hold now. It should not just be applicable to the speakers being reviewed, but all speakers worth their salt.

http://www.acoustica.org.uk/impulse/images/H1_4.gif

As system improves, do bad recordings sound worse?

No, they sound exactly the same. The only difference is you can hear more of the "details" than you could with your boombox.

Interesting thread, Bryon, and I think that you are probably correct in general. As Mrtennis says, this is ultimately all subjective. I also agree with Audioquest4life's early response where he said that a really bad recording is never going to sound good. I believe that many audiophiles are too quick to blame their systems when in actual fact what they are hearing is a problem with the original recording. No two engineers record the same way, especially in today's digital age where they can pretty much manipulate the recording however they wish, and they have the same choices in values you mention (between musicality, accuracy, transparency, etc.) and many other choices besides. The recording process itself is extremely subjective. I also think that Cbw is correct that some recordings interact with some systems better than others and that this variable changes whenever a change to the system is made. I think that any change made to a system is going to make some things sound worse and some things sound better, regardless of the effect on the system overall - there are far too many variables for it to be otherwise.

I have experienced both. I have invested and upgraded my system only to find out that a lot of my rock/pop recordings sound better on a boom box or my car stereo than on my home system. Very frustrating. Revamped my system so more and now my bad recordings sound pretty darn good. I think one needs to choose gear according to goals and type of music and recordings one has. To me, having a system that excells at only good recordings and nothing esle is a waste, unless all you have is nothing but good recordings. I like a lot of music, that for whatever reason is not the best recording quality. It took me awhile and some trial and error, and plenty of money but I have finally assembled a system where all of my music sound really darn good.