Is Recording quality the real culprit?

You need good equipment in order to be able to properly assess the quality or nature of specific recordings.

The trap to avoid is thinking that a better system will magically transform all recordings into something you want them to be rather than merely what they are or are not .  

The ability to enjoy details of all recordings and appreciate each for what it is or is not is a big part of the joy of hifi for me.

Maybe this speaks to the continued desire to improve the system you have in hopes things might get better and after all it probably is due to Recording Quality not being where it needs to be.

That’s why so many people divorce and remerry all the time. And in the end there’s not much you can really do to fix the problem.

You get a good quality system to better appreciate the musical performance.  The recording quality is not the main focus. 

Poor recording or mastering  makes a good musical performance sound crappy.

It may sound crappy, but it's still a good musical performance.