[Zuman]

Ok, I'll try to explain what I mean here...
While I certainly don't have the highest-end system, it's pretty good and it frequently makes me very happy. I use Roon ROCK on an NUC into a NAD Masters Series M50.2 player/vault connected directly to a NAD Masters Series M32 digital integrated amp. That connects to a pair of CSS Criton 2TD-X towers with upgraded crossovers, which are supplemented by a pair of Taket Live supertweeters and Taket WHDpure "woofer hi-definitioners."
On the analog side, I have a heavily-modified Rega table into a Moon preamp with outboard linear power supply, which goes into a line input on the M32.
Cables are Hapa digital and Audio Art analog.
So...I LOVE the sound I get from well-recorded HD downloads (such as the Nagra 70th Anniversary 2xHD Jazz album and Nuvelle's digital offerings) and when listening to those I have no desire to upgrade any gear whatsoever. But I'm left wanting on many of the non-HD digital recordings I own.
Similarly, UHQR vinyl sounds awesome and takes me where I want to go, but run-of-the-mill vinyl is often meh.
Is some gear simply too unforgiving with mediocre recordings, and can better gear help me find happiness when the recording isn't great or the digital resolution is lower? Or does better gear inevitably result in dissatisfaction with undistinguished recordings and I would be better off just gradually replacing my entire library with HD music?

[rollo]

  The higher resolving system will reveal the quality of the source. That simple. Garbage in garbage out. Book it Dano. 

charles

[WGH]

You really shouldn't be dissatisfied with average recordings, some will sound better than others but I haven't come across really horrible recordings except for the original CD of Jeff Beck's Blow by Blow, the SACD is the best sounding so far.

I am not familiar with the NAD Series you have, never heard them. Do you think they are detailed sounding?

None of my buddies have the CSS Criton 2TD-X so haven't heard that speaker either. I usually love silk dome tweeters but the LD25X does have a rising high end. This speaker may sound better pointing straight ahead instead of toed-in.




Detailed electronics along with speakers can be too much of a good thing, sounding excellent on state-of-the-art recordings and not so much on everything else.

These days I prefer the RAAL tweeter, it is detailed, smooth, fast and doesn't have a rising high end. The difference in sound between a silk dome tweeter and a RAAL is like comparing a Ford Focus to a Subaru Outback, both get you where you want to go but the latter is much more comfortable on every road and off road, not just the smooth roads.