The only way to fully understand what a system "should" sound like is to listen to live music in a good accoustical setting. A rule of thumb - if the music is amplified in any way, it will have some degree of distortion / coloration. Good luck in the journey!!
Who's to blame for the Grain??
I have a very very entry level system that I upgrading piece by piece. What I've noticed is that when I listen to music with vocals, there's a grainy texture to everyones voice. I don't hear that smoothness that I've heard from systems out the hi-end shops. I was curious whether there was a specific part of the chain that can cure the GRAIN. Is it interconnects, pre-amp, power amp, speaker cables or source. I am not using a power cord or a power conditioner,,,,,,,,,,,could this be the cause?