Speakers and system for compressed recordings?

I feel your pain!! Compression is a fact of life for most music. Darkside of the Moon and Crime of the Century are riddled with compression. What to do? Consider some vintage gear. A good Marantz reciever from the 70's might be a good starting place. I have the humble 2216b Marantz reciever. It was my first stereo and recently had it restored. It sounds pretty good. It's no Krell but I enjoy listening to radio programs on it and on occasion records on my Thorens 125mk2. It's not lo fi you are after but hi fi. Even your local estate sales might turn up some surprising results. Happy hunting!

It is part of a second system, the Marantz. The other stereo is full blown audiophile.

Welcome to the club! You definitely need a second system for classic rock etc.. I have an old Marantz 2270 and Cerwin Vega CL-215's for the music of my youth.

interesting topic. my experience has been it should not be a problem with the right setup and realistic expectations. without the second, you may be doomed to dissapointment.