Best Recordings

I find many of the Jazz labels are conscienceous about recording and mastering. Verve, Blue Note, Concord all have produced excellent product. In folk, Rounder and Flying Fish do very well. Ryko has taken on many lesser known artists and produced phenomenal albums such as Mickey Hart's Planet Drum.

Commercial FM radio is mostly such a poor place to start looking for quality music and production. Public radio can be a great source of discovery.

Detlof is right about Dire Straits. Their recordings are truly remarkable for sonic quality.
One CD I use to "show off" my stuff is Dylan's "Good As I Been To You." I don't know why, but it is an extraordinarily well recorded CD, audiophile quality on a standard CD. It is great musically, too.
It is an acoustic solo recording of Dylan covering some great old songs, like "Frankie and Albert," etc., that also shows Dylan's great talent as a guitar player.
If you want to see how good your system sounds, and hear some great Dylan, get this CD!

Clapton has shown us that after 30+ years he's still not only one of the very best guitarist and songwriters, but he cares about the quality of his recordings. His cds over the past decade have been excellently recorded. His new cd "Reptile" is a gem.