"Bridge Over Trouble Water" sounds artificial

Disagree.

To build upon Dave b's post -- if you put together a system that makes music you love sound bad, then what exactly have you accomplished?

As a thought experiment, imagine how BOTW would sound on a good system in 1970.

That is one horrid recording...period!  Nothing could ever save that mix.

Albums that sound like BOTW, and there are far too many of them, I simply keep the volume much lower than I do with a great recording.  This allows me to enjoy the music I wish to listen to and do so without being too terribly brash on my ears.  I would not build my system "down" to a lower level of quality for the sake of such albums.  I strive to put together the best system that I can afford and simply adjust the volume as needed.  But man, on those really great recordings, let 'er rip!  Full-tilt-boogie, what a blast that is.  Sonic bliss and entertaining as hell.

mammothguy, thats a good point,
We revisit oldies but goodies , like a walk down memory lane.. I recently  added  Carol King’s greatest Hits, as much as i love some song,s, its best not to put too much gain on the vol knob.
We have fond memories for these masterpieces , but not for the quality of sonics.
S&G’s hits had great impact on the youthful hippie generation. Paul; Simon was perhaps the greatest song writer for the hippy/pop culture.
We loved his songs for their folksy, creative words and melodies. Paul Simon’s creativity spoke the soul yearnings for *Our Generation* (The Who My Generation Live version)
I mean consider how important, and *sensational* the soundtrack is for The Graduate.
So the soso record quality on some , if not most of our greatest hits late 60’s/early 70’s , are *forgivable** for the creativity and as someone mentioned, their *nostalgia* emotive affects as we walk down memory lane...