What CD has the best production/sound?

Some reference recordings sound quite nice as do most Chesky. I think Chesky has the more natural sound, while reference, which is recorded on Spectral gear, that the engineer Keith O. Johnson also designed, sounds very neutral

Some good suggestions here. A few more: Lucinda Williams(Car Wheels On A Gravel Road), Martin Sexton(The American), Sonny Rollins(Soundtrack from the movie, "Alfie"), and Patricia Barber(Cafe Blue).

You might want to try "Songs of a Circling Spirit" by Tom Cochrane. He was the lead singer from Red Rider, the group that did the Neruda LP back in the 80's. He does some of Neruda and some newer stuff on this CD. He and three or four other musicians went into a concert hall and recorded this as an acoustic session (no audience), so you get to hear quite a bit that would normally be "filtered out" of a studio recording (read that as sterile) or obscured if an audience was present.

Another highly rcommended cd would be the soundtrack to The Living Sea disc by Sting. The sound is excellent and the disc is very enjoyable. Different than you might expect from Sting.

I've got to second Trelja's recommendation for Lucinda Williams "Car Wheels On A Gravel Road"-- on trks #7 and #12, the soundstage is wide and deep with percussion and other instruments exploding all over the place. It should be noted that this is an HDCD recording. Cowboy Junkies "Trinity Sessions" is also excellent. I also like all of the Enigma CDs for bass excitment. Cheers. Craig.