I too have come across CDs that are poorly mastered...but I would still think the resolution of a CD would be more faithful in reproducing a master tape as a needle dragging along a groove or a bit of tape dragging along a tape head would produce artifacts (unwanted sounds) inherent in its technology.

by the way I agree that a thicker speaker wire is better than a thinner one esp. over longer runs or to a subwoofer. I was talking about the wires made out of exotic materials that some claim to be able to hear a difference from. My position is this....generally any difference might show up on a spectum analyzer or oscilloscope but probably wouldnt be detectable to the human ear assuming perfect hearing to be 20hz-20khz.

concerning audiophiles....If you are that concerned about sound reproduction I wouldnt download off LW at all. How do you know the person didnt take the WAV file and put it thru some kind of effects program? (bass boost, low/high cutoff, reverb etc) which would give you results not found in the original recording? If a piece of music is that important to you, why not just go out and BUY the damn thing? even though I use LW I still buy music esp. if its an artist/ song that I want the best audio reproduction possible.

Funny thing...even though the RIAA is worried that people arent buying music anymore because of file sharing,I actually think since using LW I have been buying MORE music because of the stuff I found on LW that I never thought existed....food for thought....