equipment sound bad?

You know, when someone is offering to listen something "better recorded" on the system that I audition I usually get up and walk away. I know that I have to get a right sound with what I listen and with what I believe is best recorded. I do not believe that a good system can only play best on MFSLs or some extraordinary manufactured crap.

Try Fidelio Audio (http://www.fidelioaudio.com) they make really good audiophile cd.

I also agree with Sean. We have an audiophile society where I live. We go to each other's homes and bring our own music and listen. All of us have expensive ($50k and up) and well designed systems. Most of us have dedicated or simi dedicated listening rooms. Every system has it's strengths and weaknesses (even at that price level). We all enjoy the listening sessions, but I'm pretty sure everyone goes home and says--"I really like my system the best". I know I do--and I know a few others think the same. It also has to do with the music you like. I like jazz and female vocal recordings--I have electrostatic speakers--no surprise there. You can probably imagine, however, that my system is really not optimized for amplified rock or pop music. The system has to work for the listner and the music the listner likes--a price tag doesn't make it a good system.

Sean has a good point. If your recording sounded bad on the mentioned gear ask yourself why. Perhaps synergy is what that system lacked. Not all big ticketed items make music. Good listening!

Hi Dan; While I agree with Sean in principle, my experience is most like that of Perfectimage (above). I am an audiophile, and therefore somewhat obsessive. As to your proposition #1, I think audiophiles will always try to improve their systems, and yes it is a risk. Proposition #2, I think with careful auditioning and component selection, you can have both high enjoyment and excellent music-- it just may not be the same music. That said, in support of my case, I absolutely HAD to do the following:

I recently upgraded(?) from Vandersteen 3Asigs ($3500.) to Vandersteen 5 ($11,500.) speakers, and even after break-in found myself often disappointed with the music quality/character of some of my favorite CDs that I was very used to with the 3As. So, for 2-3 weeks I tried to make the V5s sound rich, warm, and forgiving like the 3As did. No luck though, the 5s have exceptional clarity in the mids and "center of the earth" solid bass-- and I would call them very revealing speakers compared to the 3As. Don't let anyone tell you that the 5s have a similar sonic signature to the 3As-- the 5s are much more neutral/accurate and revealing of source material. The rest of my system is fully the equal of the V5s quality.

So I backed off on trying to make the 5s sound like something they aren't, and I just relaxed and started listening to music the way it is presented by the 5s. What I've found now is that with well recorded CDs, the 5s really are a completely different and very special speaker-- special in a good way . Fortunate for me, Cowboy Junkies music is mostly fairly well recorded as it's some of my favorite, and it sounds great with the 5s. I can now actually understand the words of many of the songs Margo Timmins sings-- couldn't do that with the 3As. And bass on the Enigma CDs-- all 5 of them-- is practically orgasmic.

I have a long way to go to work my way through 1000 CDs, but what I'm now sure of is that some will display a new found outstanding quality, and will become "new" favorites because of the 5s capabilities, but on others, I will miss the richness and warmth of the 3As.

So was this up-grade worth it? Long term, I think the answer will definitey be yes. Thanks for the thought provoking thread, and Cheers. Craig