As much as I usually love to disagree with Tvad to rattle his chain some, I gotta agree with him here.
If the intent going in is to formulate a highly resolving system, then that system is going to resolve the playback material (s) for what they truly are. Now that stands to reason no matter how you slice it.
We all have choices to what degree we take our systems, and the finest line in audiophilia nervosa is that line which separates both musical involvement and excellent resolution. Say your rig is right there it probably should be if it isnt, then better recordings will certainly sound better and those lesser ones will be revealed as such. Its simple logic. Despite logic, its true. Truth doesnt depend on my acknowledgment of it or my subscription to it it is what it is despite me.
If the resolution and detail orientation of the system exceeds its own abilities to be as commensurate with musical sensibility and engagement, your outfit passed that line away from its best positioning for whatever reasons. Initial aims or goals, a lack of synergy, room attributes, etc. The recordings you wish to replay can drive your aims to construct a system which is quite gratifying if you build it with those ideals in mind.
Ive done both sides of that coin so far. My highly resolving and articulate first effort wound up being entirely discarded, eventually. It played only the most well engineered recordings I could find and feed it. Normally jazz and some classical. I then went directly the opposite way, and sought to have a rig which could play anything enjoyably. Well, that idea slowly was replaced with the original one but with some alterations. Currently my main playback affair does a lot of musical genres well. Very good in fact and now & then, simply outstanding! The caveat always remains however with lesser playback fare, the sound produced by it is lessened as well. With those less than albums, commonly, it seems dry bass shy or outright flat sounding to me albeit, it is indeed listenable still..
The system traits contain none of the above products. Its not dry, bass shy, or flat sounding . Its merely the recordings 60s, 70s, and even some 80s rock. 40s jazz, 50s jazz, much older orig blues recordings, bluegrass from the 50s to 80s. etc. Ive spoken with more than one studio musician who has confirmed much rock, pop, country and likewise genres from some 30 years ago and beyond were scaled to one speaker car raidios, portable radios, and thats it! Now and then the studio monitor was nothing more than a 6x9 speaker, sometimes enclosed, sometimes not., Bass lines werent adequately addressed, and remember stereo wasnt around forever either. Older stereo recordings IMHO sound better in mono to me.
So whats an audio hobbyist to do? Just play whatever you like on what ever you have. Just because Im using my number one setup doesnt mean Ill not play a this or a that I will actually. I simply denote the fact such & such cut or album just aint up to snuff thats all. I wont discard either the recordings or my stereo system.
Lesser resolving rigs arent a bad thing at all! Theyre quite suitable for poorer software. Think about it in the late sixties those stereos we had then did not sound bad at all. Black Sabbath, Spirit, CSNY, Donovan, Janis, 10 years After, Sly & The Family Stone, and yes even Joe Cocker sounded great! On a Craig Powerplay 8 track, and a pair of JBL 6x9 coaxial speakers laying in the rear window of my old Chevy. Im not going to claim that stereo as an outstanding high end audio system but it was bleeding edge tech in 1971 . But it matched up well with the material then available.
I really dig playing Zepplin, James Gang, Supertramp, Steppenwolf, Dylan, etc. on my PC using an Altec Lansing 2.1 speaker system. Past that they do well with my office unit and bedroom arrangement too. But even with some better than average gear comprising my all tube power train, pretty good speakers, and sub, they leave me dry on my best setup. Routinely.
Most pop and rock simply does not have the audio nut in mind. They do have decibels, and well, less sophisticated ideas in mind too..
Its not necessarily the rigs fault it can and should only be revealing quite well the info on the disc or in the track itself. Keeping one foot in the high res & detail camp, and one in the musicality & enjoyment bivwac often means concessions are going to be made somewhere. Noting wrong with that at all. I feel its a must in fact . IF you want to replay a broader range of music than just the top tier recordings .. Or simply replay poor recordings on less resolute stereos . Or pay no attention to the man behind the curtains and just dig the content for what it is, instead of critiquing it..