What in the world is going on.....

No, no! the better the system the worse bad records sound. The sound is accurate so you hear it warts and all. When I was a dealer I was often ask for a system which makes everything sound good. It is easy to get a system that makes everything sound the same, BAD!

I have heard things on my car radio that sounded great but bad on my system. You just don't expect to hear that much on a lesser source and your ears fill in the rest.  A simple system just gives a different experience than a complex one. In Japan they use to gather a group of untrained listeners and had them listen to music with buttons indicating whether they liked the sound or not. In every case they preferred the less accurate sound, this is one reason records sound bad, they are designed to appeal to untrained listeners. I once had a record I really liked; when my system got better I could hear that it was not that good. 

I have always liked Burl Ives. He didn't have much of a voice but he could put lot of expression in singeing. 

I would be considered crazy by most but I still think it is over the top to pay a high price for a piece of wire. I know that there is a difference but the law of falling returns comes in somewhere. I have a very good system and was a moderator at a good forum and was very good at buying  equipment from the ones who had to have the latest thing. I only spent $30000 or so but it still sounded very good even compared to the ones who had spent far more. Cardias gold reference was good enough for me.

Too many posts!