Mapleshade recordings

Jfrech is right - Live at Ethels is really good, and is especially good for comparing different gear in your system.

Also agreed about how some are not so good. Mostly, they are very good though.

I've been wanting to get the ARC Chior but with along with three others to take advantage of the discount. I'll check out the ones you mention Gsm18439 - thanks.

The sampler is a good place to start.

How about a basic description of your CD library?

Why I ask is... if only a handful of them sound good, then there would seem to be a serious problem with your current playback system.

I have over 1500 CD's that sound fine on my setup and probably 3000 LP's that I can say the same for.

I culled/sold/donated thousands of LP's & CD's over the past 5 years, but this was based upon the music itself and not how the albums sounded Hifi wise.

Yes, some recordings are crappy in general, but if the music is good it will persevere regardless.

I find your posting to be quite odd, as I understand it.

no offence, but 'a handful of cds worth listening to, out of a collection', is not a good sign....you should be enjoying artists you love, and not be worried about what your system sounds like. otherwise, there's literally a world of great stuff out there you'll be missing.

Cats Are Stealing My Shit is fun.
Kendra Shank Afterglow and Datevik (her acapella at the end is haunting) are excellent

"...I've finally reached a point with system where I'm ready to start listening to music..."?? What does that mean??

If you are looking for good sounding jazz recordings, there are 100s of remastered CDs from Blue Note, Impulse, Columbia, Verve, Prestige, Riverside, ECM, and other labels that are easily available. JVC XRCDs are also a good bet (but I think most of them are out of print). You can go to your local record store (if you still have one in your area), or check Amazon and look for "used". You can even find new CDs under the "used" section, many of them well under $10.00.