Warrenh,
TWL said it exactly!
This is the "curse" of hi-end audio! The better your system gets, the more intolerant you get of mass-fi CDs 'cuz the more your system reveals the flaws in the CD recording & mastering process. It is true, to a large extent, that the public doesn't care a damn about this & is happy to listen & enjoy (!) compressed digital audio.
2ndly, by embarking on this audiophile path, you have educated yourself about the nuances of sound, you are more aware about what to listen for in the bass, in the mids & in the highs. You probably go to concerts & pay close attention to how a drum sounds, how a trumpet sounds, how a flugelhorn sounds, etc & then you try to listen to it on your system & see if it can reproduce that same "live" timbre. The frustration must be high when the system doesn't oblige!
3rdly, and this is a general statement!, ill designed speakers can make your misery worse but creating extra phase shifts from their complicated x-overs. You know that music is NOT just about amplitude of the fundamental & its harmonics, right? It is EQUALLY about the phase of that fundamental & those harmonics. Minimum phase & time-coherent speakers allow you to listen to your bad & worse recordings with much more tolerance because you will be hearing *only* the bad CD recording & not the distortion of the speakers multiplied into that! If you feel that you can only play "pristine jazz CDs" - as your post above - take a long hard look at your speakers &/or their placement. They *could* be creating more damage than you are aware of.
FWIW, YMMV, IMHO.
TWL said it exactly!
This is the "curse" of hi-end audio! The better your system gets, the more intolerant you get of mass-fi CDs 'cuz the more your system reveals the flaws in the CD recording & mastering process. It is true, to a large extent, that the public doesn't care a damn about this & is happy to listen & enjoy (!) compressed digital audio.
2ndly, by embarking on this audiophile path, you have educated yourself about the nuances of sound, you are more aware about what to listen for in the bass, in the mids & in the highs. You probably go to concerts & pay close attention to how a drum sounds, how a trumpet sounds, how a flugelhorn sounds, etc & then you try to listen to it on your system & see if it can reproduce that same "live" timbre. The frustration must be high when the system doesn't oblige!
3rdly, and this is a general statement!, ill designed speakers can make your misery worse but creating extra phase shifts from their complicated x-overs. You know that music is NOT just about amplitude of the fundamental & its harmonics, right? It is EQUALLY about the phase of that fundamental & those harmonics. Minimum phase & time-coherent speakers allow you to listen to your bad & worse recordings with much more tolerance because you will be hearing *only* the bad CD recording & not the distortion of the speakers multiplied into that! If you feel that you can only play "pristine jazz CDs" - as your post above - take a long hard look at your speakers &/or their placement. They *could* be creating more damage than you are aware of.
FWIW, YMMV, IMHO.