this past Sunday morning i was seriously contemplating trying to win an ebay auction for an ERC (Electric Recording Company) 7 disc box set of Lili Kraus (ERC065). the bid was over $1900 and i almost hit "submit" to raise the bid (turned out i would have won the auction). what stopped me was my dream of finding a quality classical collection i could buy. i presently have around 2500 stereo classical pressings, and 300-400 classical mono pressings now. i've had another 1500 classical pressings in the past, but i gave them away as they were the fou-fou club and third party filler stuff. i do buy new and used classical as i go along but that is a slow process and i'm lacking knowledge. but not enthusiasm.
i listen to 60-70% classical, both vinyl and digital, and really enjoy it. 10+ years ago i bought another 1500 pressing collection and ended up with about 800 keepers. the 6 months it took to go through those and learn about the music and clean them and listen was as much fun as i have had in the hobby. it was so fulfilling.
i've kept my eyes out for a classical collection to buy to flesh out my collection, told my friends i am looking, tried to bid a few times, but have not yet scored. so Sunday morning i look and see this 3000 record classical collection listed. i'll make a long story short, today my shipper picked up 41 boxes, 44 feet of Lps, 3000 classical records. my shipper weighed it, 1792 pounds. i'll have them in a week to 10 days.
turns out the seller knew me, although i did not know him. but that did play a part. i got lucky.
is there risk? sure. but worst case is still where i wanted to be. i'm super excited, and this is the kind of thing that i can enjoy for years and years. i've spent the last day or so trying to figure out how i can add 60 feet of Lp storage to the barn since i already had 500+ Lps not put away (no space).
i paid a fair price, and was not hesitant to do so. in 6 months i will know how i did. there is no hurry; i have a lifetime to enjoy the discovery process. below is one of the 2 pallets of boxes.
![1637191873948.png 1637191873948.png](https://www.whatsbestforum.com/data/attachments/75/75365-03c4dd5ded1044817d9b0818b82b8ed5.jpg)
i listen to 60-70% classical, both vinyl and digital, and really enjoy it. 10+ years ago i bought another 1500 pressing collection and ended up with about 800 keepers. the 6 months it took to go through those and learn about the music and clean them and listen was as much fun as i have had in the hobby. it was so fulfilling.
i've kept my eyes out for a classical collection to buy to flesh out my collection, told my friends i am looking, tried to bid a few times, but have not yet scored. so Sunday morning i look and see this 3000 record classical collection listed. i'll make a long story short, today my shipper picked up 41 boxes, 44 feet of Lps, 3000 classical records. my shipper weighed it, 1792 pounds. i'll have them in a week to 10 days.
- The collection was acquired from the estate of a musicologist and
Gramophone Magazine contributor about 25 years ago.
- Approximately 3,000 LPs (44 feet). None 'cherry-picked'. Many are rare and
valuable.
- Records are NM (many have been played once), Covers/Boxes are NM- (some
boxes rate VG due to age).
- 95% Stereo recordings from the 1960's and 1970's.
- The records are 80/20% USA/Europe sourced.
- Large Scale Orchestral/Concertos (30%), Chamber/Solo Instrumental (50%),
Choral/Opera (20%)
- Labels include EMI, Philips, Eratos, RCA, Argo, L'Oiseau-Lyre, Decca, etc.
- All periods of Classical Music well represented.
- Works by a wide range of composers.
- Collection is boxed/numbered and alphabetically arranged by composer.
- No sorting required. Simply open the numbered boxes and place on your
shelves.
- There are 41 boxes measuring 13x13x13" and weighing approximately 45
pounds each.
- The boxes are in my garage and ready for easy pickup or shipping.
None of these records are from a record club or similar releases (no
Beethoven Centennial, Light Classics, Franklin Mint, etc.). All are from the
original labels only. That being said there will occasionally be a "2nd
Pressing" from a label (Decca Jubilee, RCA Victrola, Columbia Odyssey). But
for the most part all are original pressings. If you are looking for 20
different versions of Beethoven Symphonies you will not find it here. The
collection focuses mainly on definitive performances of a particular work.
If someone is looking at the records from a strictly audiophile standpoint,
there are some fabulous sounding recordings usually the result of a
particular engineering or hall where it was recorded. There are no
"audiophile" marketed releases here.
Regarding your question about the labels represented here. There are
certainly several (and often many) of the labels listed. Of course plenty of
London, Deutsche Grammophon, Columbia as these were the major releases in
the states.
As mentioned, the condition is mostly excellent. But understand some of the
boxsets have shown wear due to aging (edges splitting, some of the inner
form falling apart).
I have used higher quality turntables and cartridges to play the records:
Linn LP12, a customized Thorens, a large VPI (big mistake, stay from these)
and for the past several years a Technics SL-1200GAE (a tremendous bargain).
turns out the seller knew me, although i did not know him. but that did play a part. i got lucky.
is there risk? sure. but worst case is still where i wanted to be. i'm super excited, and this is the kind of thing that i can enjoy for years and years. i've spent the last day or so trying to figure out how i can add 60 feet of Lp storage to the barn since i already had 500+ Lps not put away (no space).
i paid a fair price, and was not hesitant to do so. in 6 months i will know how i did. there is no hurry; i have a lifetime to enjoy the discovery process. below is one of the 2 pallets of boxes.
![1637191873948.png 1637191873948.png](https://www.whatsbestforum.com/data/attachments/75/75365-03c4dd5ded1044817d9b0818b82b8ed5.jpg)
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