I have run into this kind of person from time to time. Not very often anymore.
I always say “Are you intentionally trying to piss me off and lose my business, or are you just socially clueless?”
This always results in shoe gazing and averted looks and back pedaling. Very rarely an apology.
“ Because I deal only with people who have my best interests in mind, and I like what I’ve already purchased. “
I like everything he does. Very clean masters that sound close to but better than the originals I own. Highly recommended
I have a very good CD/SACD player and SACD’s are among the finest sounding recordings I own. I also have a very good vinyl setup and those are some of the finest sounding recordings I own. I have a huge CD collection, all ripped to hard drives and playable via a good streamer/DAC. These are some of the finest sounding recordings I own*. I also have purchased some hi-rez recordings I play through the same system and some of them are exceptional. I also stream via Qobuz/ROON and have listened to some very fine recordings via that service.
TL:DR - the recording and mastering are way more important than the recording medium itself.
The actual dynamic range of the recording is more important than the medium used to record it.
Vinyl has physical limitations that limit the amount of dynamic range compression that can be used. So many vinyl recordings have MORE dynamic range than their digital counterparts. Not because of the medium, vinyl is clearly technically inferior, but because of the mastering.
Also vinyl is plenty good enough as a medium with 65 dB dynamic range. Noise floor of most homes is 40 db, and if you listen at 95 dB which is plenty loud, you’ll have 55 dB of dynamic range and vinyl noise will be below the noise floor of your listening room.
Most of the streaming services will offer multiple versions of an album so you can listen for yourself and see if you can hear a difference and if the difference you hear is actually better instead of just a different.
To do this right you would engage the services of a friend to switch between versions in a random fashion to see which you prefer. Since this is a royal pain in the ass no one actually does it. They just talk about doing it.
I have a variety of hi-rez sources and they all sound great. Then so does 16/44.1 so there’s that.
A truism is “Anything over xx bits and yy sample rate is beyond the capabilities of human hearing.
You can insert any numbers you want for xx and yy and start a great discussion/argument.
What we know is that studios seldomly master in anything over 24/96, unless they are using DSD aka SACD.
If you can’t remove the alcoves then save up and get speakers that are designed to operate in alcoves. These would generally be something like JBL Everest - horns and if ported, front ports.
If you can’t do either then you could consider surrounding your existing floorstanders with acoustic treatments, essentially filling the space between the speakers and alcove with absorbing material. Finish with Guildford of Maine acoustically transparent fabric for a clean look.
I draw a hard line - all my audio stuff has to be made on planet earth. No Jovian gas moon speakers for me. No way.
Seriously, there is some great gear made in every country. So then why do I have a preference wrt country of origin? Couple of reasons.
Worker exploitation and human rights. Why should I support a country like China that has an abysmal human rights record? Not historically. But today, right now. Dissidents and their families are disappearing. Uyghurs are being detained in state-sponsored camps, government policies have included forced labor, suppression of Uyghur religious practices, political indoctrination, forced sterilization, forced contraception, and forced abortion.
Intellectual property theft. There are a lot of ‘derivative’ designs out there that are close copies of gear designed and produced by established companies. These copies trade on the goodwill established over years and years. It’s not ok to buy them to save a buck.
Product support is very important to me, and I want a local in-country support presence ir I won’t buy the product.
AKG CK-62 ULS. Ruler flat pro mic.
First a note on soundstage and imaging in general.
If you have a vocal recording and play it in mono, you should hear the vocalist as a tight ball of sound centered between the speakers and positioned slightly forward from the plane of the speakers. If you are hearing anything else then the speakers or your room are creating things that are not there.
Next, play Roger Water’s Amused to Death. It was mastered in QSound. On The Battle of Bill Hubbard his voice should be to your far far left, outside the plane of the speakers.
Of your system can do these two things then you have a shot at precise imaging and an accurate soundstage.
If not you may have an awesome sounding setup with a compelling soundstage. But you won’t have pinpoint imaging.
If you are in the US then Schiit Vidar2 and Kara.
I run bare wire, no terminations. Terminations like Hannah plugs are inferior to bare wire. Good spades are ok.
You’ll know when you’ve reached your endgame system when changes sound different but not necessarily better.