Are most recordings so bad it's not worth spending large on speakers?

No.

There are any number of great speakers, that paired with synergizing amp/preamp, will sing and make you all googly! Don't let anybody tell you differently.

Listen to @atmasphere !

His electronics ain't bad either.

If you haven't listened to big Magnepans or ESL's, do. Those who like them, such as myself, will never go back.

This is nuts. But not for any of the reasons given so far. This is nuts because its not just the speakers, or any of the other stuff mentioned- its ALL of it. Everything matters. If its not worth having good speakers then its not worth having good speaker cables, amp, interconnects, turntable, cartridge, phono stage, power cables, power, and room. If its not worth having good speakers then you can just pack it all in right now.

Not to mention, he's in the speaker business, telling you not to buy speakers. This Morrison sounds like the kind of guy makes you wonder what is wrong with audiophiles.

checkout the just check out the New Spatial Audio Labs open baffle speakers , world class design and drivers the X5,and X3 .reallygood natural sounding speakers and very efficient ,and a 60 day money back guarantee -0 to loose ,they pay shipping to you. Check them out
audio Circle has a forum on them ,maybe here also they beat speakers 
several times their price ,
and the designer Clayton Shaw has been around for years in Audio design.