Great country recording

A lot of what's been suggested above falls under what I'd consider more Americana than country but it's also what I happen to prefer.  Yes, much modern Americana is recorded well - especially folks like Rawlings and Welch and Jason Isbell.  From back in the 70s I felt that Gram Parsons's debut solo album GP was recorded very nicely not to mention it's brilliant.

You got me doing random needle drops.  Nothing, sorry to say, was of true audiophile quality.  The Will the Circle Be Unbroken LPs were particularly disappointing   First pressings.  Got 'em the week they came out.  Scratchy vocals.  Instrumental tonality could be good, but the overall sense was that the producers never quite found a magical microphone placement.  Ergo, soundstaging was never more than decent. 

Shockingly, probably my best-sounding record was Portrait of Patsy Cline, a greatest hits compilation on what is obviously an MCA reissue.  The backup instrumentals were largely locked either to the left or right but they had good tonality & reasonable dynamics.  Patsy, meantime, sounded clean and lovely at her solo mike.  I reiterate, too, that my Johnny Cash record sounds pretty good.

And oh yeah, I've probably mentioned this a dozen times here, but I play guitar, banjo, fiddle and piano.  My wife plays guitar & banjo, and does more than her share of vocalizing.

Wow. I appreciate all the recommendations. Thanks all.

You like dobro?: How about the Knob Lick Upper Ten Thousand.

Used Train a Comin' by Steve Earle to audition speakers years ago. Still a fav.