Best Sounding Bruckner Recordings

@brownsfan , I agree with you regarding Von K's Bruckner. I like a couple of his interpretations, but in general I don't hear of feel the different emotions in his Bruckner.

The Ninth was my “gateway “ into Bruckner.  The first Bruckner I encountered was the Fourth, when I was in College about 4 decades ago.  It was entertaining but one can only take so much medieval knights jousting background music.  I heard the Seventh in concert and was bored to tears except the Scherzo.  Finally I heard a Gunter Wand CD of the Ninth and was blown away.  I really hate the completions of the Ninth, not only because I am used to the 3 movement torso, but because anything that winds up coming after those final mystical chords just seems to cheapen the experience.
  I don’t listen my to the First two Symphonies, let alone the 0 and 00.  Of the Te Deum, my only recording is one that is tacked on to the end of Ninth as a Choral completion.  As I mentioned I hated any completion of the Ninth so I haven’t spun that CD for a couple of decades.  I did hear the Te Deum recently on the radio (I listen to Radio Venice, and the Bluesound App will identify the composition but not the performers), and liked it quite a bit, so I would also be interested in recommendations there.
  Karajan Bruckner is very polarizing.  Most critical opinion that I have read is negative, and it was only relatively recently that I began to investigate for myself.  I love it.  When Von K felt sympathy for a Composer he could do great things, and the playing of the Berlin Phil. Is breathtaking.
  I have heard good things elsewhere about Venzago.  Time to check Qobuz for his recordings.
   I listened to the Jochum/Dresden Sixth a few weeks back.  Maybe not as much rubato as I remember, or perhaps he tones it down in that relatively restrained work.  I will have to respin that cycle.
  Bruckner doesn’t consistently interest me as much as the composer with whom he is frequently compared and contrasted, namely Mahler, but in a few spots he really strikes gold.  He also is perhaps the most challenging Composer for an audio system, and therefore a great composer to discuss on Agon.

Karajan's performances of Bruckner #4, 7, 8 on EMI circa 1970 are magnificent IMO. The young Karajan with his Berliners approach Bruckner slowly and with such passion. These are the recordings that move me.

@mahler123, I absolutely agree with you regarding the completion of the 9th symphony. A fourth movement is unnecessary and "those final mystical chords" provide a finality to the beautiful adagio and preceding movements.

I always thought the Bruno Walter was the classic Bruckner 9.  Anyway, it's the one I cut my teeth on as a teenager; all others sound different and slightly "wrong".

My first Bruckner was Barenboim/Chicago #4, followed by HvK #9, followed by Jochum/Dresden 6 and 8, all on vinyl.  It was the Jochum that pulled me in on Bruckner.  Barenboim put me to sleep and HvK had me looking over my shoulder in fear. 
I really think Bruckner is done a great disservice by comparing him to Mahler.  He is never, in my opinion, going to fare well in that comparison.  I think it is much better to let him stand on his own and speak with his own voice.   
What that voice should be I leave to others who are better positioned than me to comment.  But I do think Venzago takes a stab at something different.  Elsewhere I stated that Venzago's Bruckner is for people who don't love Bruckner.  Each symphony is recorded in a different venue with a different orchestra, so recording quality varies as you work your way through the set.