Understood and agreed - but maybe it goes without saying. You can compare two television sets - one being better looking than the other - without getting into a discussion about editing. It is a necessary evil. The problem pops up when you try and define ‘better’ by saying ‘closer to the truth’. Understanding that truth is not obtainable can be either disappointing or can free you to peruse quality within the boundaries that it is feasible.
ESP disks have the tag line ‘Artists alone will decide what you hear on their ESP disk’. Sounds good in principle - but anybody who has ventured deeply into their catalog with an open mind would find themselves secretly wishing they had a well trained engineer or producer steering the ship on some tracks. Raw truth, as much as we may say we want to hold up in the air as a paradigm of perfection, isn’t really what we want.