I'm not an audiophile by any stretch of the imagination but bad mastering bugs the sh!t out of me. Some of the better discs I've heard (couple previously mentioned) include...

Tool - Lateralus (*much* better than Aenima, which sounded like the mic was covered with mud)
Eric Clapton - Unplugged
Massive Attack - Blue Lines, Protection, Mezzanine
Rjd2 - Deadringer

And among the worst: anything by the Foo Fighters after Color and the Shape, and anything by The Smashing Pumpkins since Mellon Collie.

 

Mostly Marantz and HK hardware with Klipsch speakers...I'm not a big fan of this particular artist in general but Stevie Winwods 'Higher Love' sounds absolutely phenomenal.

 

Alesis M1 Active mk2 Biamp Monitors
Mackie 402-VLZ3 4-Channel Ultra Compact Mixer
t42 notebook

Pinkfloyd - Atom Heart Mother the album - easily my favorite floyd album
Eagles Greatest Hits
Dire Straits GHs
DJ Mars - Sonic Sunrise
Jock Jams Volume 2

 

When digital audio first came out, a couple of the first digital only recordings were a Peter Gabriel album (the one with Shock the Monkey) and Aliens Ate My Buick by Thomas Dolby.

I enjoyed them for their crispness at the time, but almost every recording made in the last ten years sounds really good if you like the music. I think the older stuff stands out more on these lists because we are old enough to know how they sounded on 8 track.

 

Way back in the day, Sting's Soul Cages was phenomenal. It was recorded with some tech called Q sound.

I've noticed most Sting CD's are exceptional reproductions.

 

I have a lot of gear, both 5.1 and 2 channel listening, tubes and solid state.

Well recorded/excellent sounding redbook cds

Lyle Lovett - Joshua judges ruth
Paula Cole - Amen
Cowboy junkies - trinity Sessions
KD lang- Ingenue
Alice in chains - MTV unplugged - ABSOLUTELY incredible
Tori Amos - Strange little girls but many of hers are great
Bela Fleck - Flight of the cosmic hippo
Seal - Seal II
Doug Macleod - come to Find
Toy Matinee - toy matinee
Keb Mo -
Nickle Creek - Why should the fire die?
Eagles - Hell freezes over
Ricky Skaggs and Bruce hornsby-
Coldplay - A rush of blood
Smashing pumpkins - Siamese dream, Mellon Collie, Gish
Mogwai - Come on die young
A Perfect Circle - Thirteenth Step - check out "The Noose" but give it time.

 

I have had a few of the albums listed here on my list to pick up but haven't gotten a chance to do so yet. I appreciate the contributions listed so far and will be definetly adding some of the ones I wasn't aware of to my list.

Here are a few more that I didn't list before:

1. Beetles- Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club
2. Jimi Hendrix- Electric Ladyland
3. Iron Maiden- Live After Death
4. Dream Theater- Images & Words
5. Type O Negative- October Rust (Really anything from these guys sounds great)
6. Madonna- Imaculate Collection
7. Pearl Jam- Live on Two Legs
8. Depeche Mode- Violator & Ultra
9. Montley Crew- Dr Feelgood
10. Van Halen- Van Halen, Women & Children First, 1984 (Remastered HDCD's)

 

I wouldn't consider most of the Beatles albums audiophile grade. Stereo studio recording was just in it's infancy. Martin and Emerick hard-panned a lot of that stuff.

The albums of theirs that are sonically spectacular would be Abbey Road and Let it Be | Naked. The rest, while well-recorded for their era, aren't exactly celebrations of stereophonic reproduction. The Japanese pressings are nice, but still. . .

That could apply to a whole host of other classic rock as well. Only the latest Led Zeppelin re-masters are good.

Good music to be sure, but I wouldn't bring it to audition stuff. . .

 

oops i also forgot... cypress hill - greatest hits from the b0ng

 

I don't have any good equipment at home but b/c of the time I spend in my car I have a great sound system in my lexus. It's the premium system for the car that gives everythign a very crisp sound that I can master very well. Anyways.....

You really didn't want to get me started on the music trip here but either way...

Thievery Corporation (pretty much all of it)
Tool - 10000 days and Lateralus
Sublime - Stand by your Van Live
Cornelius - Sensuous
Skeriks Syncopated Taint Septet - Self titled and Husky
Soulive - Soulive
311 - Blue album and Transistor
Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds - LIve at Radio City (yeah it's slower but great quality)
The Mars Volta - Bedlam in Goliath
Led Zeppelin - BBC Sessions