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Should a good system sound bad with bad recording?

A friend of mine came home with a few CDs burnt out of "official" bootleg recordings of Pearl Jam NorAm tour...the sound was so crappy that he looked at me a bit embarrassed, thinking "very loud" that my system was really not great despite the money I spent. I checked the site he downloaded from...full concerts are about 200 MB on average. I guess I am dealing with a case of ultra-compressed files. Should I be proud that the sound was really crappy on my set up?!!!!
beheme
chadnliz
3,736 posts
 
It does suck when you play a recording that really is poor and try to plead your case that your gear is only as good as the recording,and it always is a crappy recording your buddy wants to hear when you even get the least bit of interest from a non- Audiophile guy, and it just makes you look like a crazy fool.
mrtennis
3,295 posts
 
hi hens:

given the fact the sound of a recording is unknowable and the sound of each component is unknowable, how can you tell that a component or stereo system is accurate ?

at best you may say that one stereo system is less accurate than another, since, perfection does not exist.
hens
173 posts
 
Hi Mr Tennis,

You are right - I should have said "more or less accurate" rather than "accurate or not".

My point is that a system that majors on accuracy will tell it like it is - recording flaws, compression, etc. will be undisguised. I don't think the system will sound "bad" but I do think that that recording might sound more enjoyable on a more forgiving combination.

Hens
zar
185 posts
 
We can spend as much as we like on a great rig but it all comes down to the quality of the cd. A great sounding disc as a reference will show who has the best syste. Put a crap recording in anyone's rig and it will sound like crap.
mrtennis
3,295 posts
 
hens and zar:

you are both right. there still is an issue as to how one would describe a "bad" sounding stereo system.

i have yet to see in print a description of a good and bad quality stereo system, other than accurate is good and inaccurate is bad. is it possible that many of us what want a stereo system to sound as close as possible to the correct instrumental timbre--as we remember it, regardless of accuracy considerations ?
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