Korky, a couple of years ago I splurged a bit(Tower sale for about $23)on one of the JVC XRCDs. These are of course just regular CD format, but extra care in mastering, etc. is said to be taken. The sound was fine, but didn't really wow me, and very well mastered CDs at lower prices that I have can match what I heard. From the lack of popularity they achieved it doesn't seem that most listeners thought that the premium price brought enough benefit.

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Enjoy the music, not the equipment.