The old Jazz at the Pawnshop syndrome. Great sound, mediocre music. How many of us have that lying around and haven;t listened to it in years. I bet if we all preened our music collection just down to the things we actually listen to and love the CD and vinyl racks would not be warping under the weight anymore, and our nervosa would shrink like a pee-pee in cold water. 
It's all about the music, lest we forget. So if the music isn't being served properly then you might be an "equipmanist". You might be an equipmanist if ...
- you only buy music that "sounds good"
- you bought something because it cost more than what you had, not because it sounded better
- you drool over the Stereophile equipment guide, and save those particular back issues
- etc.
Bob
I don't own "Jazz at the Pawnshop", but there are other recordings I own that would qualify as "great sound, but mediocre music". At the same time, I refuse to believe there is one single Nervosian out there who hasn't done that with a few of their music purchases somewhere along the line. And yes, I am also willing to admit that my music collection has recordings in it that don't get played much anymore. Whether they "hooked me" on one song and then afterwards I found out that the rest of the LP (or CD) has nothing else much worthwhile on it or maybe it's that my tastes in music may have changed since my first record purchase when I was 10 years old, it really doesn't matter. We all are guilty to a certain degree. So, up to this point in the "conversation" I am in agreement with you for the most part.
But, here's where I see (hear) things differently in relation to a lot of what's been written on this thread. (BTW, I want to thank
everyone who has posted here for providing their viewpoints and opinions on this topic. It's what makes this "cyber-community" on AN such a worthwhile place to be.)
Some of the recordings that I have been recently listening to and enjoying
so much of late are
NOT special audiophile editions or what would be considered "ear-candy" by any means.
- Crosby, Stills & Nash - Disk #1 from their box set
- Keb Mo - "Slow Down"
- Norah Jones - "Come Away with Me"
- Mark Knopfler - "The Ragpickers Dream"
- Blood, Sweat & Tears - "Blood, Sweat & Tears"
- James Taylor - "Greatest Hits - Vol.#1 & 2"
It's all music that I love,
first and foremost for the music's sake. If you'll take notice; it's mostly a mix of "Pop", "Blues" and "Rock". Norah Jones is the closest thing to jazz on the list, although Hank Williams tunes aren't what I consider jazz per se! It just so happens that these disks are recorded rather well and it makes the listening to any of these recordings even better; because I love the sound
and the musical content.
Now, with all of that being said; none of you can accuse me of "cherry picking" music just to get the most resolution out of my system and justify why I started this thread to begin with. Please take note of what's
NOT on my playlist here, that would be "standard fare" at many audio club meetings:
no Jacinta,
no Ava Cassidy,
no Patricia Barber,
no Miles/Gertu,
no Dianna Krall
or "Jazz at the Pawnshop" just to name a few. And, please hold up on the slings and arrows - I am not saying that there's anything wrong with listening to any of these artists on this last list. I own recordings from all of them (except the last one, like I said earlier) and I
do enjoy them. It's just that I needed to use them here to help me illustrate my point better.
So, again I ask all of you... if my stereo system remains constant and all I am playing are "run of the mill, plain old redbook CD's" and some sound really good/great and others of the same ilk do not - doesn't it come down to the only variable; which are the recordings themselves?
Yes, at the end of the day, it always comes down to the music (we miss you, Earl) but I still don't understand why any of us should have to compromise the capabilities of our systems because the same resolution that makes things sound so great, also reveals so many flaws in poorly recorded material, that it in turn makes those recordings barely listenable to!
I'm sorry, but I'm (obviously) having a hard time getting past the "less is more" axiom.
Bill
