My point is not all recordings are good. You will always have some that don't quite cut it and the system should reflect that. If a known bad recording sounds good, then you have a system that is not neutral. BTW, neutral to me is not a preference. It either is or it isn't. After 40 years of playing with this stuff, I can pretty much tell you if a system is neutral. Most aren't!!!! Some don't like neutral (as in your individual preference statement requarding this point.)A truly neutral system will not "Tear" the music up as you say. If it does, then it is not neutral. But you should only get what is on the recording, nothing more, nothing less. Anything else is ---distortion!Therefore, not all recordings sound the same nor are they all good. This has been discussed in many other threads. Neutral does not mean thread bare or unmusical to me.If somethings are better hidden, exactly how do you get your equipment to "Hide" just the stuff you deem unfit? If it hides anything, how do you know it isn't hiding something you really want. A system cannot be selective. It either presents the entire signal for better or worse or it distorts it---plain and simple.
BTW, no way it hell you better the real thing. If you have bettered it to your ears you have created some sort of euphoric distortion! The "Real" thing is what we strive to reproduce, nothing more, nothing less. To pretend anything else---well, it goes without saying.
It is like home theater. Most people like its sound. Is it accurate or neutral? Not on your life. It is music manipulated to the extreme, compressed and presented as a poor representation of what was originally there. Does it sound good? Sometimes. Is it accurate or neutral? In no way shape or form.
