Naxos, the way to go for classical?

And not just reviews....it might help if you read a general book on classical music to get your bearings. It's a vast field (as you recognize) and slicing it by record label is too arbitrary a way to do it IMO. Naxos has lots of great stuff for sure, bunches of it are historical performances which, if sound quality is a criteria, would not suite your needs. Good Luck

Another option for advise is the magazine, Fanfare, which reviews lots of classical recordings. It is a source of lots of great information.

I have a couple of suggestions for you. For more information about classical music and classical composers, there are two good books that you should buy and use as references:
1. "The Essential Canon of Classical Music", by David Dubal, North Point Press, 2001. A very good introduction to most of the major composers, by stylistic period, with suggestions for their best works.
2. "The NPR Guide to Building a Classical CD Collection", by Ted Libbey, Workman Publishing, 2nd Edition, 1999.

Both of these books are relatively inexpensive, and can be purchased from Amazon.com.

My second suggestion regards the Naxos label. About 18 months or so ago, I made a lengthy post here on A-gon that listed the Naxos releases that have received the most critical acclaim. Here is the link to that thread:
http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?rmusi&1012420599&openusid&zzSdcampbell&4&5#Sdcampbell

Good listening to you!

If sound quality is your #1 priority, don't limit yourself to only one label--Naxos or any other. Read reviews: magazines, reviews on Auudiogon or other websites (including sites that sell CDs), post questions as to what recordings are best, etc. There's no shortcut, unfortunately, since any label has its share of excellent recordings AND its share of dogs.

I am not an expert on Naxos, although I've heard a number of their CDs. Overall, I think the recording quality competitive with major labels--at a much lower price. In addition, I have yet to hear a Naxos CD that is totally unlistenable--something that I cannot say about major labels. However, their quality is not as good as the best audiophile labels. In addition, the performers tend to be people you never heard of--although this may not matter that much. (I've heard the argument that in today's world, almost everyone sounds pretty much the same.)

I agree with the others who talk about doing research. One source is _Gramophone_. This is a British magazine, but much of what gets released there is released here. I think Penguin publishes (or used to publish) comprehensive books that gave summary reviews of currently available recordings.

One recording company that I'd like to mention is Harmonia Mundi. They do mostly baroque, but they do it quite well--both performances and sound quality.

Public libraries often have a good CD collection--which may include some audiophile recordings. This would be a way to hear a variety of CDs without paying anything. Two warnings--the discs may be in poor condition (they often need a cleaning, and they often look like they've been tossed through a gravel pit). Then, there may be many old CDs from the early days of digital, which may be best avoided.