old zz top recordings

You are correct, sir! The remasters sound terrible to me, the sound is not what we had and enjoyed back in the good ol' days. Unfortunately, when the cds were released, I remember reading a quote from Bill Ham (their producer) where he claimed the remaster sound was what they had originally intended, and they were happy to finally give us that mix. Say it ain't so! I can't believe that, something must have happened in the production. Of course, listening to their later music (i.e. anything after Deguello) which sounds like doo doo, they might be right.

That awful sound is one of my main driving forces in getting a table and seeing just how bad my original lps are. (You know what can happen with that beer drinkin' music.)

J_thunders> There is a product called "wipe out" which is supposed to fix scratched cd's. Might be worth a try.
http://www.cdrepair.com/

Get a vinyl rig! Problem solved! Everything will sound better, not just ZZ Top. Stevie Ray, Robert Cray, Albert King, all of 'em. The Rega Planar 3 with the RB 300 and a Grado or Blue Point cartridge, for example, is cheap, and killer. There are other record players out there that sound great and can be had for about $1,000. I'll bet you can find all those records pretty easily and for $5 each. You shouldn't spend another nickel on equipment until you fix this hole.

Tried a turntable once. All it did was make horrendous noises and scratch the CDs. Not a good solution at all... >;-)>

You are right about the remasters. There are two ZZ Top Six Pack sets on auction at ebay right now. Heartland America sells a CD polisher that does work on those party CD disasters.