High quality CDs

Thank you all so much!!! I had no clue, I had so many choices.. This is awesome!! 

Plus one for ma recording s they are phenomenal! I would also give the jvcd xrcd and xrcd 11 a really high recommendation. Yes they play in any red book CDs. Xrcd was about the process of recording the cd. Mfsl are ok better than most regular CDs but in my opinion don't come close to the three former labels I talked about. I have a large group of the audiofile CDs I loved buying them. It slips my mind but the label that recorded Sara k  I'd really good as well. In actual fact I would say of the ones I have I believe as a group I like the ma recording s the very best. They are stunning and in a tip of the line redbook cd player they are  the most fluid sounding vinal type sound that I have found on CD.  On  other types of music country to be exact I have always liked rounder recordings. Also a stupid thing I did and was quite success with was buying CDs that were packaged in a cardboard cover somewhat like a lot jacket. Generally speaking I managed to stay away from awful recordings that way. If you are looking around a used CD store I find any packages like that are far more likely to be half decent than the ones packed in the jeweled case. 

The higher the CD player was up the food chain the even better the reference cd recording s sound. A fuild  dynamic  tonally correct recording is even better on a top end player compared to a simmer player. I have owned a number of players over the years and bright CDs sound very bright on basic bright players but the sonic purity really shows with a top of the line player and recording mated together. Sheffield sound labs is another good label. Cheskey records is another great label. That is the one I was thinking of earlier that Sarah k recorded on. I have .any of that labels recording s. 

Regards

The CD Red Book sampling rates simply aren't high enough. The standard was fixed in 1983 to be the bits that would give 80 minutes of programme and fit on a 5 inch disc at that time.  Since then storage capacity has increased exponentially.  CD should be abandoned.

Anyway no digital system can eliminate dither and clock error.

Get a record player.

@retiredfarmer  Don't agree about Chesky CDs.  I bought one (classical, can't remember what it was, I played it once and didn't get to the end) when the company was young (?30 years ago) and it sounded so bad I never bought another.  Far worse than CD, even then.

OP

Regarding “so many choices”…the Classical Market used to be dominated by 3 or 4 “Major” labels—Columbia, RCA, EMI, DG,Phillips and Mercury-and their dominance was gradually broken up by budget and independent labels.  The CD era really facilitated the growth (and now streaming) of these labels so now they now dominate the Classical Market.  Many of them place a much greater priority on SQ than pop labels, because the goal is to capture the sound of a live ensemble, not some end product created at a mixing console.

  Another trend is to use concert performances for recordings, as this reduces studio costs.  This presents more of a challenge to record accurately, but the performances tend to be more exciting.  It may be worth sacrificing a bit of sonic accuracy for extra performing juice.

@clearthinker  what was your cd player at the time?