Is Recording quality the real culprit?

A BAD recording played on a good system still sound bad.

A poorly recorded great album still sounds like a great album when played on a good system.

@yoyoyaya 

Amazing reply. How do you come by such great insights into all this? Other comments you make are also impressive.  Even the one thread you created about heavier vinyl is also very interesting.

@emerging soul - thank you. I think that playing and recording music helps a lot to understand how music is reproduced. I've spent a long time listening to, playing and recording music. The recording and reproducing camps are often divided and I try to bridge the gap between the two.

Great "sounding" recordings are great, but imo and ime poor sounding recordings are great too, as my primary interest in listening are the performances and the compositions. These are the reasons I listen to music to begin with. Why obtain a great system if the recordings are poor? There is magic in these recordings, musically speaking, and I hear more of the music. The music is more important than sound, and it comes before great "sound". If you understand music, I believe it is easier to listen to poor recordings, because they give us "great music". I can appreciate those recordings that are sota, but it is the music that drives my emotions. Folks who cannot listen to their systems with poorly recorded music, I feel are more interested in the "sound" first, and the music second. Nothing wrong with this; whatever floats your boat. I have catered to music listeners and audiophiles most of my adult life, and there is a distinct difference between these two types of listeners. It is wonderful when both types are combined into one. I admit I am a combination, because I appreciate it all. If the music itself was not to my liking, which is quite rare, I would likely not listen to it for it's recording quality, except to show off my system, or make adjustments to my system. But it is the music for me, 1st, and I have stated this forever. My best, MrD.