Ultimate Cat Stevens

[DaveyF]

Sam, as it stands, i wouldn't touch another of these pressings until a further opportunity to hear them would change my mind. Frankly, while the Tea album has a few redeeming points....it is upon reflection a total joke ,IMHO
I have numerous other LP's, audiophile and non, that could easily wipe the floor with this Tea Lp. I don't know what went wrong, but again IMHO, something is very amiss with this LP. As Myles stated, it is mastered with a ss chain, which perhaps might explain some of the shortcomings; however, I really think that George Marino might be deaf or if he thinks this sounds anything like real instruments in a 'live' setting

BTW, I do need to call you to catch up...sorry must do

 

[c1ferrari]

Looking Forward to It

Davey
I'm at Burning Man this weekend...just kidding!

 

[MylesBAstor]

Sam, as it stands, i wouldn't touch another of these pressings until a further opportunity to hear them would change my mind. Frankly, while the Tea album has a few redeeming points....it is upon reflection a total joke ,IMHO
I have numerous other LP's, audiophile and non, that could easily wipe the floor with this Tea Lp. I don't know what went wrong, but again IMHO, something is very amiss with this LP. As Myles stated, it is mastered with a ss chain, which perhaps might explain some of the shortcomings; however, I really think that George Marino might be deaf or if he thinks this sounds anything like real instruments in a 'live' setting

BTW, I do need to call you to catch up...sorry must do

I guess I still think that Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray (now at his own place named Cohearent Audio) are doing the vinyl remasterings

I think that the latest Bernie Grundman work for ORG is much better than what he was doing with Classic Records.

Do want to hear the new RR albums though, mastered by Paul Stubblebine on a newly modded lathe (with KOJ's help) and Nelson Pass electronics and pressed by QRP. I've ordered them and hopefully they'll be in next week.

 

[c1ferrari]

Do want to hear the new RR albums though, mastered by Paul Stubblebine on a newly modded lathe (with KOJ's help) and Nelson Pass electronics and pressed by QRP. I've ordered them and hopefully they'll be in next week.

Appears everything is in place for a great result...
I hear -LOL- that Paul Stubblebine guy has it going on

 

[mep]

Sorry to hear that
FWIW, my extremely preliminary impression of the Fleetwood Mac re-issue leaves me quite curious...

If it's the same Fleetwood Big Mac reissue that I have, it blows too.

 

[DaveyF]

Mark, I am beginning to wander how many of these re-issue companies are actually listening to the original master to see how valid it is to re-issue the piece in an a'phile format

Some of the rock re-issues I have heard, were simply dreadful due to the original master being recorded either in the field with 2 track recorders or with ss gear typical of the 70's and 80's. If anyone with a decent set of ears had listened to the master in the 1st place, they would have passed on the re-issue. OTOH, if profit is the primary reason for the re-issue, then I can understand the motivation. Many so-called a'phile re-issue pressings seem to have been re-released without any thought given to the true quality of the master and how it was originally recorded.

It's the old saying...."you cannot make a silk purse out of a sow's ear"

 

[mep]

Mark, I am beginning to wander how many of these re-issue companies are actually listening to the original master to see how valid it is to re-issue the piece in an a'phile format

Davey-I think they look at the sales the recording had over the years to gage the potential sales they may have. No one wants to reissue something that never sold well in the first place. The quality of the master tape is probably a secondary issue. If some recording label had sold 10 million copies of a recording of fourth graders running their fingernails down a chalkboard, we would probably have already seen an audiophile reissue of it.

 

[DaveyF]

Mark, exactly... the profit motivation; quality be damned

I doubt that the master quality is even considered at all

 

[garylkoh]

Unfortunately, my feelings mirror Davey's and Marks - disappointment. I thought that it was my very high expectation bias, but it sounds flat and lifeless even after giving it a break over the weekend and playing it again.

So, experts, which is the best pressing to get? The original UK all-pink label, the pink-rim palm tree island label, or MFSL re-issue? I know someone local who has a sealed UHQR, but I don't think that he'll want to open it for a listen.

 

[mep]

Unfortunately, my feelings mirror Davey's and Marks - disappointment. I thought that it was my very high expectation bias, but it sounds flat and lifeless even after giving it a break over the weekend and playing it again.

So, experts, which is the best pressing to get? The original UK all-pink label, the pink-rim palm tree island label, or MFSL re-issue? I know someone local who has a sealed UHQR, but I don't think that he'll want to open it for a listen.

Glad to know that I’m not alone at being underwhelmed with this recording. As for your friend with the still sealed UHQR copy of Cat Stevens, did he buy it to resell it later at a hopefully big profit? If not, what good is a recording if you won’t play it? The only recordings I had that I refused to play was a sealed box set of Manneheim Steam Blower LPs after I figured out that I couldn’t stand their music anymore. I sold the collection thankfully.

 

[Lee]

I don't understand those who just buy and hold records. The whole point is to listen to music.

 

[garylkoh]

I don't think that he's holding it to appreciate. When I've been over to his place, he willingly opens anything I want to listen to. I just haven't asked about Tea.

Are there any thoughts of the master tape deteriorating over the years? May be the album is a reflection of the condition of the tape.

I know that back in the days of magnetic tapes in mainframe computer rooms, we would have a schedule to re-record the data storage tapes because we "knew" that magnetic tapes deteriorate and lose signal.

 

[mep]

Gary-They bragged on the how good the condition of the master tape was so who knows what the truth is.

 

[microstrip]

I don't understand those who just buy and hold records. The whole point is to listen to music.

Do not try to understand, just accept it.

Many years ago I saw better - an eBay auction of a pair of vintage Quad 22 tube amplifiers sealed in the mint original boxes, exactly in the same condition as it had left the factory. The seller was showing some authenticated radiography of the box, displaying the contents of the box! It sold for a large amount.

BTW, I have a few sealed LPs - but they are my backup copies just in case something happens to the "service" LP.

 

[mep]

BTW, I have a few sealed LPs - but they are my backup copies just in case something happens to the "service" LP.

This I understand. I have an unplayed box set of the Beatles BC-13 collection for the same reason. However, my original set that I have owned for over 25 years still sounds so damn good that I don't know if I will ever need to play the other collection.

 

[DaveyF]

Unfortunately, my feelings mirror Davey's and Marks - disappointment. I thought that it was my very high expectation bias, but it sounds flat and lifeless even after giving it a break over the weekend and playing it again.

So, experts, which is the best pressing to get? The original UK all-pink label, the pink-rim palm tree island label, or MFSL re-issue? I know someone local who has a sealed UHQR, but I don't think that he'll want to open it for a listen.

Guys, I started a thread called "A Big Disappointment" about the new Cat LP on the A'gon Forum....forgot to wear my flame suit. I'm now burned to a crispy

Oddly, there are some VERY strong defenders of this pressing, which sort of baffles me as I am sure that what I heard was a very poor recording that is as I stated and as Gary and Mark also have confirmed.

One of the dealers did confirm my findings on A'gon only to be flamed to death as well

Wander why so many people over there are defending this re-issue

BTW, I read that the LP isn't even 200 grams, apparently it comes in at 184 grams....

 

[MylesBAstor]

Guys, I started a thread called "A Big Disappointment" about the new Cat LP on the A'gon Forum....forgot to wear my flame suit. I'm now burned to a crispy

Oddly, there are some VERY strong defenders of this pressing, which sort of baffles me as I am sure that what I heard was a very poor recording that is as I stated and as Gary and Mark also have confirmed.

One of the dealers did confirm my findings on A'gon only to be flamed to death as well

Wander why so many people over there are defending this re-issue

BTW, I read that the LP isn't even 200 grams, apparently it comes in at 184 grams....

What type of scale was used to weigh the new LP? Was it calibrated or some highly inaccurrate food scale


Also, I asked the question whether the test pressing MF reviewed would be the same as the production version? It sounds like it may well not be. Or maybe, there's some Q/C sample-to-sample variation.

I know that my QRP copy of TFTT was very quiet compared to Mark's copy And the original and reissue are very different sounding though I haven't had time to do careful comparisons where SRA/VTA is controlled (essential because of the different in the thicknesses of the new vs. early pressings). I know my audiobuddy who was over last week preferred the original on my system.

And IMHO, the jury is out on George Marino's remastering vs. those of Steve Hoffman, Kevin Gray, Bernie Grundman and Paul Stubblebine, etc.

 

[DaveyF]

Myles, I don't have any idea as to how the poster came up with the weight....or for that matter how QRP came up with it either. I do know, that it looks less thick than my MFSL 200 gram pressings

I had set up my tonearm for a VTA setting that works well with the MFSL 200 gram pressings, so I do not think that the tonearm was not correctly set-up.
Like you say, the real question is the mastering of George Marino and IMO, the true quality of the master tape.
Unless I have a faulty copy, which I very seriously doubt, then the QRP pressing just doesn't hold up to the hype or for that matter to numerous other a'pile and even non a'phile recordings.

 

[garylkoh]

BTW, I read that the LP isn't even 200 grams, apparently it comes in at 184 grams....

I just weighed mine on a calibrated scale - 179 grams.

 

[garylkoh]

Unless I have a faulty copy, which I very seriously doubt, then the QRP pressing just doesn't hold up to the hype or for that matter to numerous other a'pile and even non a'phile recordings.

I don't think that my copy is faulty either..... it might just be this pressing.

In another thread, Mike Lavigne said that his copy of RR's Dick Hyman Age of Swing from the same pressing plant was great. I've ordered it....