The new audiophile vinyl series The Original Source from Deutsche Grammophon (AAA)

[tima]

I've never appreciated the postal services in Europe and the UK and the above seems something of a nightmare. I bought the Abbado/Debussy from DG a few months back and that took forever. I did find a 'deal' on the Beethoven Sonatas on Amazon Germany ($20) and that arrived quickly with relatively low ship cost -- not sure why it was so inexpensive, the price only lasted a few days. We have something called Media Mail which is very low cost shipping for all books and recorded media within the US. Otherwise best prices and free next day shipping from Amazon US.

 

[Bonesy Jonesy]

I've never appreciated the postal services in Europe and the UK and the above seems something of a nightmare. I bought the Abbado/Debussy from DG a few months back and that took forever. I did find a 'deal' on the Beethoven Sonatas on Amazon Germany ($20) and that arrived quickly with relatively low ship cost -- not sure why it was so inexpensive, the price only lasted a few days. We have something called Media Mail which is very low cost shipping for all books and recorded media within the US. Otherwise best prices and free next day shipping from Amazon US.

Hi 'tima',
Yes I have found Amazon UK have also been excellent with me purchasing LPs for them both from an item cost, item quality, item packaging and item postage cost (I am a Prime Member) / speed of delivery prospective. Never bought a DG LP from Amazon yet though !

 

[tima]

Hi 'tima',
Yes I have found Amazon UK have also been excellent with me purchasing LPs for them both from an item cost, item quality, item packaging and item postage cost (I am a Prime Member) / speed of delivery prospective. Never bought a DG LP from Amazon yet though !

And they make returns very easy.

 

[DetroitVinylRob]

Hew! Fingers crossed. It appears I’ve located a (new) copy of Claudio Abbado & London Symphony Orchestra’s Stravinsky: Sacre Du Pretemps on its way to me. This completes the sold out back catalog for me of this series. And for a fair, not ridiculous surplus. Well, we’ll see…

Hew! Fingers crossed. It appears I’ve located a (new) copy of Claudio Abbado & London Symphony Orchestra’s Stravinsky: Sacre Du Pretemps on its way to me. This completes the sold out back catalog for me of this series. And for a fair, not ridiculous surplus. Well, we’ll see…

Well, most things that appear too good to be true, often are…

So I found a dealer that appeared to have this record new in stock for less than twice the retail value on Discogs (while the average asking was 4x msrp). The day after I ordered it. I received a letter from Discogs warning that due to questionable behavior, the dealer that I had just created a purchase through might not be trustworthy and was suspended from business. So I contacted PayPal, contacted the credit card company, and everyone is working to refund my expense. In the next couple of days I received a notices from Discogs that more dealers were offering this hard to find title for a substantial savings over the average seller. Put them in my cart, but didn’t pay immediately.

These both turned out to be additional nefarious peddlers that were also suspended from the site. The funny thing is, some appeared to have good history and lots of other products available. They appeared to be respectable citizens.

Has anyone seen news if DG plans a second pressing?

 

[tima]

Has anyone seen news if DG plans a second pressing?

I have not. Given these are touted as 'numbered limited editions' it will surprise me if DG exceeds the limited run.

 

[No Regrets]

I have not. Given these are touted as 'numbered limited editions' it will surprise me if DG exceeds the limited run.

I agree. If I remember correctly, they explicitly said there would only be one run as they wanted this series to be truly limited and exclusive. So, if you have even the slightest interest in any of the titles... you may want to buy them as you are able to. You won't have any trouble unloading any of them if you decide you don't want to keep a particular title.

Best wishes,
Don

 

[DetroitVinylRob]

I have not. Given these are touted as 'numbered limited editions' it will surprise me if DG exceeds the limited run.

Kind of suspect as much. Perhaps I was just wishful thinking given that they went so fast

 

[No Regrets]

I was excited to receive my second batch of the TOS yesterday! Unfortunately, my excitement was dashed tonight as I played the Berlioz. Half way thru the first side I encountered a big, long scratch

This was supposed to be a brand new record from Amazon USA. How does a brand new record get a scratch like this?

Did it happen at the pressing plant when sleeving the record?

Or is this a returned copy that was sent back to Amazon and then shipped out to me?

I will try the other 3 records ( Beethoven, Mozart, Ma Vlast) over the next couple of days... hopefully they will be as new.

Such disappointment after such a long wait for it to finally arrive.

Here's hoping everyone else's arrive in new condition!

Best wishes,
Don

 

[tima]

I was excited to receive my second batch of the TOS yesterday! Unfortunately, my excitement was dashed tonight as I played the Berlioz. Half way thru the first side I encountered a big, long scratch

This was supposed to be a brand new record from Amazon USA. How does a brand new record get a scratch like this?

Did it happen at the pressing plant when sleeving the record?

Or is this a returned copy that was sent back to Amazon and then shipped out to me?

I will try the other 3 records ( Beethoven, Mozart, Ma Vlast) over the next couple of days... hopefully they will be as new.

Such disappointment after such a long wait for it to finally arrive.

Here's hoping everyone else's arrive in new condition!

Best wishes,
Don

Bummer, it is disappointing. I would be very surprised if Amazon had the ability (or would take the time) to re-seal the record with the DG TOS labeling on the shrinkwrap.

I assume you will send it back?

 

[No Regrets]

I assume you will send it back?

Yes, I will absolutely try and send it back asking for a replacement. The scratch is so bad, that if I were to keep the album, I personally would never play it. Therefore, I would never sell it to anyone else either.

I was able to play the Beethoven Sonatas and it played perfectly as expected I still have to play the Mozart and the Ma Vlast yet to make sure they play as new ( we are currently having strong thunder storms, so my system is unplugged at the moment ).

Best wishes,
Don

 

[MadFloyd]

I often get burned by neglecting to test my new purchases - which sometimes go weeks before being played.

 

[tima]

I often get burned by neglecting to test my new purchases - which sometimes go weeks before being played.

That has happened to me.

 

[DetroitVinylRob]

First batch from DG yesterday. Though this looks scary the individually boxed records inside were all just fine.

Being a record collector is challenging at times.

 

[MadFloyd]

My batch from DG looked similar!

 

[oldvinyl]

My batch from DG looked similar!

Mine looked the same. Maybe its their standard packing materials.

 

[oldvinyl]

This was supposed to be a brand new record from Amazon USA. How does a brand new record get a scratch like this?

Or is this a returned copy that was sent back to Amazon and then shipped out to me?

Were the Amazon records still in their sealed boxs from the shipping from DG (see photo in post #620)? If so, then they were scratched in pressing or packaging.

If the records were just in the plastic sleeve and not in their sealed boxes, then they may have been opened. Or opened, played, scratched and returned to Amazon.

 

[No Regrets]

Were the Amazon records still in their sealed boxs from the shipping from DG (see photo in post #620)? If so, then they were scratched in pressing or packaging.

Ah, good call All 4 records came in their own individually sealed boxes, shipped together in one larger box by Amazon. So, the Berlioz must have gotten scratched during the pressing or more likely when it was being packaged.

It was unfortunate and very disappointing to me, as I was most looking forward to receiving the Berlioz out of the 4 records that I had ordered . I just finished listening to the other 3 records and all three played quietly, with no scratches and with no pressing defects... just like all of the other records that I had ordered from the TOS series.

Wow, the Ma Vlast was even better than I had expected! Bold, huge powerful and dynamic sound... especially on sides 2 and 4! Expansive sound staging with excellent hall acoustics. Very thrilling to listen to!

The piano on the Mozart Concerto is so clear! Both this and the Beethoven Sonata recordings were very enjoyable!

Well, I guess I will put in a request to Amazon for a return of the Berlioz and hope they can send me a replacement. Assuming they can send me a defect free Berlioz, I would say that all 4 of these records are very much worth having .

Best wishes to all,
Don

 

[Kjetil]

Being a record collector is challenging at times.

Which reminds me of the short inter-charpter of Absolulely on Music by Murakami and Ozawa called On Manic Record Collectors.

The TOS Ozawa album is plain fantastic btw.

 

[No Regrets]

Great news.... I had sent my Berlioz back to Amazon (that was scratched at the pressing plant) on Wednesday. Today, I received an email from Amazon saying my replacement Berlioz is on it's way to me Here's hoping it comes defect free

Best wishes,
Don

 

[adrianywu]

I listened again to the Gulda Mozart piano concerto No. 27 yesterday, followed by a tape of the Clifford Curzon recording of the same concerto on Decca. My tape is a copy from a Decca production master. Interestingly, Sir Clifford did not approve the recording, and it was only released after his death. I think the performance is superb. It is unclear what his objections were. The recording was made in the Maltings at Snape by Kenneth Wilkinson. This concert hall was commissioned by Benjamin Britten for the Aldeburgh Festival and is considered a top ranked concert hall acoustically. The DGG recording sounds more reverberant, probably because of the two extra quadraphonic channels. However, I prefer the sound of the Decca. It has very good instrumental separation, great soundstaging, and the sound of the piano is more realistic than the DGG. The note articulation sounds clearer. Both performances are excellent but different. According to Discog, the recording has only been reissued as an LP by Esoteric, but the original release is plentiful and inexpensive. Being released in 1982, it was most likely pressed in Holland.