Do I have to buy all new CDs?


OK, I know the question is fecetious, But I ffel like my collection of over 300 CDs went down to about 10 that still seem worth listening to. I am new to the audiophile game, so I started with Martin Logan SL-3s and a Sunfire amp. I guess I just didn't believe how revealing they really would be. I should have guessed when I immediately realized the differences in recording quality on the two Clapton CDs I use to audition speakers. This thread has become a complaint. For future reference is there any way to identify high quality recordings before I buy?
wsmatau
Both The Absolute Sound and Stereophile magazines contain reviews of music and rate them on performance and sonics. I must admit, though, that they don't always review music that I would listen to. But, the range of music is pretty broad, classical to rock/pop; they lean heavily toward classical and jazz. Usually, I mark what sounds interesting and listen to clips at www.amazon.com. If I like what I hear I buy it. There are some web-sites that rate music but I can't recall the addresses.
As much as audiophile always trash equalizers they can be effective tools for helping with good music that is poorly recorded. Try an inexpensive Audio Control for the music you like that is too bright. Used with a light touch it may help you enjoy your music a lot more, and isn't this what this hobby is all about. Make sure to insert it in a tape loop and not between your amp and preamp. You also might try a tube preamp. It might make your system a little more musical. Finally, make sure to use the current taps on the Sunfire as they will soften it up ever so slightly and impart a little of that "tube magic" on your speakers. These taps work best on dipole speakers like the Logans.
It is true case of "tail wagging the dog" if you only buy CDs because they sound good on your system, personally I don't care for most of the Cds mentioned by others here. Over half my CD collection is rock/alt which are not audiophile recordings, and to make them sound good you need a good DAC that removes distortion and has high quality filter, and also nuetral cables/interconnects that do not over emphasize upper mids and treble, among other things. I think many make the mistake of tuning their system to sound great with a handful of audiophile recordings, and sound terrible with average recordings, this is the opposite of my approach.