I have recently been splurging on so high quality tape transfers from open reel tape and I have been gobsmacked by the results. In this digital era, I know that folk that stream crave the analogue sound of the past with the technical benefits of digital thrown-in. We spend small fortunes on hardware, cables and other devices to isolate noise, with mixed and very subjective effects. Give me hiss over hash any day though and that is from someone who streams!
Now I believe that source first is a reasonable mantra to go by and whilst the arguments for LP v CD v streaming are very real, I have come to the conclusion, right or wrong, that we all seek music that has been recorded, produced and mastered to the best quality possible.
I have personally sought the best CD versions possible and ripped to local files, streamed from my Uniti Core, fully believing this is the best way to go and up til now I believe that to have always been the case.
However, my recent excursions into direct stream direct DSD transfers have really opened my ears. I’m talking mainly jazz recordings from the mid 1950’s to 1960’s on the whole, recorded in the pre-digital era and what I’ve found is the often god-awful job that CD manufacturers have made of transferring analogue to digital, serving us up with CD sound quality which is, in my view, unsatisfactory. I don’t think that the 
format way of recording music are necessarily to blame, but the route from performance to disc is often about as good as the plastic cases they are packaged in. SACD is a different matter and sounds excellent, but I can’t see that as a long term option for most, especially given the way we now seem to consume music.
Fortunately, there are some folk who are sourcing 15 ips open reel recordings and using good kit to transfer classic recordings. Now I’m not at liberty to say who but if anyone is interested then PM me and I’ll let you know. Believe me, they are worth checking out!
Another thing, if anyone has what they consider to be the ultimate source of recording quality, I’d be interested to know.
What you describe reminds me of comments about Dolby SR, which became popular in studios for about half an hour just before digital really took over.
For example, I recall an interview with Jean-Michel Jarre, who’d just released Chronologie (so 1993ish) which was recorded on a Studer A820 with Dolby SR, as was his previous album. Digital was just becoming the norm outside the classical world, so he was asked why he was deliberately sticking with analogue. He said he’d compared mastering onto that format and to digital (can’t remember if he specified what) simultaneously and that ‘a child of ten could tell the difference’.
Maybe it’s because he found the sound of digital Jarre-ing!
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