Bolero:why can't my system reproduce snare well?

Allowing for the possibility that Elegal is particularly sensitive to and keyed into the sound of the snare, I fail to see how changing the interconnect cable so that the sound he is hearing from the snare ("terrible/muffled") can be transformed to acceptable without creating a slew of problems for the sound of other instruments; IOW, other instruments sounding in the frequency range of the snare which sounded acceptable previously would then be too bright and forward. Power cords and vibration control would clearly be a help across the board; but still....... That is the problem with focusing on the sound of one instrument (or one type of music for that matter) when choosing equipment or tweaking a system, and leads to the typical audiophile chase which "solves" one problem and creates others. Until the OP reports back on how other recordings of Bolero sounded on his system, my money is still on unrealistic expectations for the sound of an ORCHESTRAL snare as the problem.

Interesting thread! Lots of good info here guys.

My bet is also on the recording. Should be easy though, just throw something else on with cymbals...

The recording is fine. Snare drum is clear and distinct, neither overdone nor recessed

I think Geoff Kait is onto something. Is a speaker hooked up out of phase, possibly? Decay trails, intelligibility and sounds with a fine sheen are always compromised when phase/polarity reversals are present.

elegal I have the Sota Sapphire and Grado reference; with my lack of phono preamp loading options I hear the same comparing the grado to high output moving coil... theres more presence and high frequency articulation with even a simple Denon high output MC. The MM fans will shout out that you can fix this if you have a section to adjust the loading.