Sometimes my system sounds great, sometimes awful

Better at night. Quieter and more constant power, the world around you is quieter, even your own mind may be less noisey, yielding better signal to noise ratio and bettter dynamics. Limited by paranoia about disturbing others.

Lloydc, you are right. It's 0:45AM and everything's place. Even listening to Spotify free via a bluetooth connection seems to work okay. I also suffer the paranoia about disturbing others, but now that I think of it, maybe the paranoia of being all alone with music blasting at night would be even worse, I could end up looking over my shoulder. Late night listening has also teached me that you can get a lot out of low volumes with a good system. Regarding filters and such I've just realized something, this also happens to me when I play guitar! My acoustic sometimes sounds awful, and sometimes it's wonderful and sings with a light touch. No power outlets or cables involved there, so I vote for the mood, sinus, stress, manic-depressive ears theory.

Audience aR1p gets good reviews and can be had for <$350 used

Fall and early winter mine sounds like a clock radio until the weather stabilizes and my ears adjust. I guess its a sinus thing, although I have no real symtoms of sinus problems maybe only pressure. Its like this every year, when I am laid off (construction work) its not as bad, as I am inside more. But if I am working nothing sounds good.