Can a great system make a mediocre recording sound good?


I spend a lot of time searching for well produced recordings as they (of course) sound so good on my system (Hegel 160 + Linn Majik 140 speakers).  I can't tolerate poor sounding recordings - regardless of the quality of the performance itself.   I was at a high end audio store yesterday and the sales person took the position that a really high-end system can make even mediocre recordings sound good.  Agree?

jcs01

A well tune room with a relatively good system will not transform bad recording in good one ...

But ALL recordings will become interesting acoustically, because you will be able to appreciate all acoustical cues chosen by the recording engineer and now manifested ...Because your susyen/room is able to do it...

I listen to all my music now with pleasure, bad recording or better one...

I dont speak about artificial horrendous studio commercial trafficked sounds here... For listening to that you will need the worst system possible ...

I spoke about jazz, classical and other "naturally" recorded relatively non trafficked  music styles...

 

I've found the opposite - the better the system, the more it reveals how bad/mediocre the source was.... Good sounding sources sound even better, though.... 

100% yes. Recordings are works of art, some abstract, and a good hifi let’s you soak it all in.

 

But you have to learn to appreciate recordings as works of art with unique qualities for better or for worse, not that most are deficient in some way or not technically perfect.

The fact that good recording sound way better does not contradict the fact that the less wellrecording begins to be interesting by the way you detect new acoustical cues... it is no more only a mess...

No room system can make bad good...

But a good room /system will make bad interesting no more a mess...

I listened for example now with more pleasure to the very bad recording of Scriabin opus by Michael Ponti a musical marvel in horrible recorded way, but now it is more interesting even if it stay bad recording ...You guess more about the subtle touch and Italian virtuosity of the pianist... you read more between the acoustical cues and line so to speak...

Same phenomenon with the bad recorded Sofronitsky...

I've found the opposite - the better the system, the more it reveals how bad/mediocre the source was.... Good sounding sources sound even better, though.... 

Then you lack something in your acoustic tuning or system tuning...

A balanced room /system must be neutral in a way which will make it able to reveal for the better all there is to be revealed acoustically...

I perfectly distinguish between bad and good recording , but i enjoy listening them all... Sound is no more an obstacle anyway for the music...

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