Which Performance/Recording Is Best?

[spiritofmusic]

Tao, absolutely. I've got about 500 classical lps, mainly from the late great Harold Moores record shop in Central London, and only 10% were ever poor pressings.

I believe this avenue of superior pressings is truly where the hobby switches to maximum pain, and if vinyl enjoyment really was predicated on this, I'd move to streaming 100%.

For me, EBay and click on: Price>Lowest to Highest, not Highest to Lowest.

 

[bonzo75]

Performance and recordings can be kept independent of each other. On some systems you can play both good and bad recordings, obviously as in the case with pre or power or tube, the good will sound sonically better than the bad. Good recordings additionally will let you appreciate performance more, as the nuances of the instrument and the dynamic range will not be as evident, in fact much less, in a bad recording. And a system that does not let you hear the difference is worse, though might be financially more practical.

Pressings, like anything else in this hobby, are a sub hobby, and whether you choose to pursue them or not is similar to whether you choose to pursue a rega or an AS/vyger and compare equipment

 

[the sound of Tao]

View attachment 49418

Favourite meme of the year! Awesome

 

[the sound of Tao]

Tao, absolutely. I've got about 500 classical lps, mainly from the late great Harold Moores record shop in Central London, and only 10% were ever poor pressings.

I believe this avenue of superior pressings is truly where the hobby switches to maximum pain, and if vinyl enjoyment really was predicated on this, I'd move to streaming 100%.

For me, EBay and click on: Price>Lowest to Highest, not Highest to Lowest.

Well your going to loooove streaming Marc... infinity recordings just one price per month.

 

[spiritofmusic]

Sure Ked, a colleague still has his Rega system from 1995, £1500 plus a few hundred on stylus replacements. He views my spending as crazy as I view those who spend on Hot Stampers.

 

[bonzo75]

Sure Ked, a colleague still has his Rega system from 1995, £1500 plus a few hundred on stylus replacements. He views my spending as crazy as I view those who spend on Hot Stampers.

I think people who have spent as much as tang, Gian, Mike, and the general, also view your spending in the accessories as crazy

 

[spiritofmusic]

Hey, guilty as charged.
Just as those who see you spend £hundreds on individual albums, but don't have a system to play them on/no tt in play, consider you crazy.

Its all crazy, collectable vinyl, multiple tts, arms, carts, 15ips tape, multiple tweaks etc, not running a system, those who won't run digital on principle etc.

For me, the risk of excessive surface noise and groove distortion on apparently NM classical vinyl is a no go for me.

 

[the sound of Tao]

View attachment 49418

Still laughing! Love that.

 

[tima]

Good recordings additionally will let you appreciate performance more, as the nuances of the instrument and the dynamic range will not be as evident, in fact much less, in a bad recording.

I'd say "may or can let you". We know such things called "audiophile recordings". In some cases, no matter how good is the recording, we may never enjoy the performance.

With multiple copies (4?), I've never heard a really great side 2 of Previn's Shosty 8. But I still play it.

 

[bonzo75]

I'd say "may or can let you". We know such things called "audiophile recordings". In some cases, no matter how good is the recording, we may never enjoy the performance.

With multiple copies (4?), I've never heard a really great side 2 of Previn's Shosty 8. But I still play it.

Sure, a good recording won't let you enjoy the performance necessarily, but you will be able to hear more to better judge

 

[spiritofmusic]

One thing maybe we can generally agree on. Avoid reissues, remasterings, esp the audiophile sort.

There were so many recommendations for Classic Records reissues of 70s Genesis lps. Steve Hoffman Forum full of praise for these.

£300 wasted.

Japanese pressings, mainly hit. Quite a few miss.

Original UK and US pressings. Not necessarily better than my bog standard 3rd pressings onwards from 70s and 80s.

 

[zerostargeneral]

Ron the answer to your question is Kubelik.

Both you and Mr. Lavigne are seriously smart cookies,have either of you considered running for office?

Performance trumps all always no exceptions.

Kindest regards,G.

 

[spiritofmusic]

Currently the best coffee in London costs £15/cup. Does that trump all always no exceptions?

 

[bonzo75]

Currently the best coffee in London costs £15/cup. Does that trump all always no exceptions?

He said performance, not price. Why is this coffee best though? Grounded?

 

[spiritofmusic]

15kg a year only harvested from a rare mountainside crop.
From Yemen.
All's fair in love and war.

 

[bonzo75]

15kg a year only harvested from a rare mountainside crop.
From Yemen.
All's fair in love and war.

Amen

 

[spiritofmusic]

So Ked, how good is Spotify in comparing classical performances to allow Ron to make informed choices in buying the right vinyl?

If it's not so good, can the subject of his thread be the spur for him to at least accept higher quality streaming, even if he doesn't embrace it?

 

[bonzo75]

Performances in many cases are possible, but I do not know if spotify allows you to guess whether the LP quality is worth the pursuit. To do this, one will have to go through some spotify recordings of well known gear pressings cum performances, listen to other digital rips of those, and check if either or both are consistent in reflecting the fact that the LP is excellent as well.

 

[spiritofmusic]

Hmm, and Ron accused ME of wasting an hour a day of his time LOL.

 

[bonzo75]

Hmm, and Ron accused ME of wasting an hour a day of his time LOL.

That could be for a number of reasons