I, too, am bothered by cd's that sound bad. It is more of a problem(an expensive one at that) with cd's than lp's. When the sound is bad on cd's, you won't listen to them. My current thinking is similiar to Jaybo's. I think that they are doing a better job now. I do wonder about cd's made in the eighties and early ninety's. Most of them sound horrible. Is there anything that can be done about them? I think most of the original analog can benefit from how they make cd's now(with some exceptions). When I have a bright, recent cd, I have used Liquid Resolution to good effect. Does burning those eighties or ninety's cd's improve them to the point where they are listenable?