There are those here who consider themselves to be audiophiles. I'm not one of them, but I love well-recorded, good sound.

Over time I have come across great sound on many different labels, but no label that consistently knocks me out of my chair. For example, the Dave Brubeck Quartet at Carnegie Hall 2-disc CD, which was recorded in 1963 or 1964 on Columbia is amazing. But I would not characterize all, or even many, Columbia recordings that way. Ry Cooter's recordings made in Cuba, including Buena Vista Social Club, a couple of Ruben Gonzalez, Ibrahim Ferrer (sp?), etc., are great. Deutche Grammophone has many classical albums of excellent quality. I could go on....

The point is, every recording depends on the skill of the guys/gals who placed the mics, monitored what was going onto the tape, and then mixed the audio. It also depends on the place the music was played.

The bottom line is that within labels you will find enormous variation in sound quality. So your ear and the ears of people you know and trust have to be the judge of what is good sound.