Friday night I was having a bit of a session using my Technics SLP 1200 player which is one of these for those who are not familiar:
https://i.imgur.com/F1YujUK.jpg
Made in 1989, so not sure if we can count it as an 'early' player but it is pretty early in the overall scheme of things.
Was listening to ZZ Top - 'Eliminator' for no other reason than that was what I fancied listening to. I was thinking about this thread so I was wondering if perhaps I took a step back and tried to hear the badness that some are suggesting is inherent to 'early digital'. I couldn't, in fact I ended up thinking that it would probably be difficult for the sound to get any better, a change of speakers aside of course. But I did hear some things in the mix that I have never heard before, and did not hear the last time I played this album which was only about a week previously.
Why did I hear these 'details' this time> Was it because I had upgraded the system in some way? Nope, not changed a thing since the last time I had played the same album about a week ago. But because I was listening differently, trying to identify flaws, trying to hear the harshness or whatever, I noticed details I had not previously.
Now if I had tweaked some aspect of the system, was using a different player for example, I might well conclude that it was better than the previous one as I could now hear these subtle details.
All down to state of mind - human psychology.
One thing I have noted over the years is that my room is very well damped. Quite a lot of soft furnishings, thick floor to ceiling curtains, carpets with rugs on top, quite a bit of clutter, whereas I notice these days the trend is to have a minimalist room, hardwood floor with maybe one thin rug, blinds not curtains, maybe one leather chair or one 2 seater couch and absolutely no clutter of any kind.
We'd be fools not to take into consideration the environment the sound is bouncing around in. Could it be that this is the source, or at least a contributor to the different results we seem to be getting?