Now that more of the story is available it's little surprise what you're hearing. A fully tweaked RM40 can easily disect crummy recordings. As mentioned above, CD's from the 80's were terribly strident. I bought Telearc sampler CDs with my first player 20 years ago. The player is long gone, but I've still got the discs and they're awful compared to anything contemporary.
An audio system should be built with the best quality up front (making the RM40 a tough act to follow as they demand careful feeding). Many an audiophile has complained that good music is usually poorly recorded and great recordings are not of enjoyable music/performances. This is why my audio priorities do not put maximum detail at the top of the list.
