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Is revealing always good?

I recently bought a very revealing and transparent CD player (and AVM player). Because I listen to redbook CD's and 705 of the CD's I listen to are jazz recordings from ca. 1955-1963 the recordings often have bad "digititus." The piano's ring, clarinet is harsh, transients are blurred --- just the nature of the recordings. With a revealing CD player, all this was palpably evident so much so that at least 1/2 those CD's were rendered unlistenable. Now, with a cheaper, more colored CD player (a new Creek) --- not nearly as revealing --- one that "rounds off" some of this digititus, these CD's are again listenable.

So... is revealing a particularly good thing for redbook CD playback? I think not. is "colored" always a bad thing? I'd say no. At least for CD playback. Thoughts?
robsker
jafant's avatar
jafant
19,773 posts
 
Robsker-

I enjoy revealing, as most CDs, are well-recorded. Conversely, hard rock/metal music sounds really bad on an excellent CD player- I live w/ this. Like yourself, my love of Jazz keeps me happy. Some CDs will be hit-and-miss. I also enjoy SACD(s). Get out there and listen, listen, listen to all of the different spinners. Happy Listening!
jafreeman's avatar
jafreeman
689 posts
 
Rob, regarding tube equivalents for your 6CG7's, just call one of the many on-line tube stores. I had the convenience of going to my high-end retailer, who gave me a set of Sovtek tubes, supplied by ARC for retail replacements in their gear. In the case of my AVA amps, circa 2000, Russian beat Chinese to a very high degree of improvement, but there a lots of fine tubes that will improve your sound. Also, if you have been under the AVA philosophy of "any cable will do", maybe look into some finer cords and cables, but don't spend too much--save for your next amp upgrade.
audioengr
3,282 posts
 
I recommend NOS Siemens or Telefunken tubes. At a minimum, military tubes. Nothing in current production is very good. Same with most tubes.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,317 posts
 
"Conversely, hard rock/metal music sounds really bad on an excellent CD player- I live w/ this. "

I find hard rock/metal sounds similar on my system to what I hear live in different venues. That for all kinds of music is what I strive for with my home setup. The room end up being the biggest bottleneck in that it is hard to reproduce the sound of a large venue in a smaller room. Other than that, no complaints.
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,317 posts
 
Also, if a better player does not make anything sound better, can it really be a "better player"? Does not make any sense.

Lowering the noise and distortion is the key. That would be inherent in a better player, but alone does not assure success in that noise and distortion can come from many sources and the best gear is not necessarily immune. If you get a handle on noise and distortion, anything will sound the best it can. Of course some recordings include noise and distortion, by design or by oversight as well. A better player will reveal everything and allow one to determine what belongs and what does not.
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