Hi n80
"So would you say that with the right system tuning the quality of the recording, in terms of DR compression and loudness, is of no real consequence?"
DRD and quality of a recording are two different issues that somehow got mixed together. Or at least mixed together in the mind of the guy spending bucks on a typical HEA system after "discrete systems" were pushed by the reviewers and certain designers. Basically the whole discrete system era was incredibly flawed and High End Audio has never recovered, they just keep digging the hole deeper until HEA is no more. BTW the reviewers who no longer review admit to the failed push of non-flexible systems.
The interesting part for myself is watching the industry starting to turn back to Tuning. There has always been listeners who understand that all recordings have their own unique set of values that require tuning. Take almost any recording and give it to 100 users. You'll find that this recording will rank differently depending on how someone's system is tuned in. What is not universally understood, with the current HEA audiophile, is that most of the audiophiles have moved on from discrete "one sound system" setups and from these forums and magazines that support them.
HEA (High End Audio) has been in rapid decline mode since the late 1990's. It's not because recordings are bad, it's because a system that only produces one sound can't play all these different sounds without some type of adjusting. In other words there's no auto adjust in "discrete audio" only thousands of different sounding systems, and the pushers of these systems. This doesn't make any component good or bad, or better or worse. It simply means if your going to play a large range of recording types you need a method of tuning that allows you the flexibility needed.
Michael
http://www.michaelgreenaudio.net/
