Mahler Project on LP

Probably sounds almost, but not quite, as good as the SACDs with the DSD from which the vinyl was derived. :-)

Kal

I was sorely tempted,when the vinyl collection was first offered, to order a set. But the price was so ridiculously high, and so obviously gouging, that I just couldn't quite bring myself to place the order. I wish them luck finding another 500 suck...er, I mean "aficionados." ;)

I agree with Rdavwhitaker - the price is just too outrageous.

How can Vinyl make San Francisco Symphony Orchestra a better sound? It is a mediocre orchestra if you heard it from a live performance. Try your Mahler from Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra or Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.

Suckers, indeed. Considering the provenance, the SACDs are cheaper, have more information (multichannel) and, logically, must be superior. If you are suspicious of sacd transfers of classic analog recordings (I am not), the same (and additional) caveats would apply for transfers in the other direction.

Kal

I listened to both the vinyl and the SACD versions side by side and there was no comparison - the vinyl version sound better - more depth, better bass extension, more air around the notes. However, 2 caveats- (1) the master for the SACD and the vinyl version are not the same - they were re-mastered for the vinyl version according to a friend at the SFS and (2) my SACD player is a $25K. Would the difference be so noticeable if I owned a top flight SACD player? Possibly. Regardless, it was cheaper for me to spend the couple hundred $ up charge for the vinyl set and know what I was getting rather than spending thousands to upgrade the SACD player only to discover that what my ear was responding to was the re-master, not the player. So we are not all "suckers."

My above post got mangled....I meant to say that my SACD player was a sub $1K Marantz and each of my analogue rigs were over $25K

You are entitled to be pleased with your purchase but I cannot entertain any agreement. First, additional "mastering" for vinyl can include both limiting dynamic range and sweetening, neither of which are consistent with accuracy. Second, there is the unavoidable problem with what they did with the additional channels. There's no way that information can be accurately represented on vinyl.

Of course, YMMV.

Kal

YMMV....LOL You are 100% correct. Don't get me wrong - if I had a 5.1 channel system and a reference level SACD player, I'm sure the SACD version would be my "go to" version (especially for $175) but pushed through a pitzy cheap player through a 2 channel system in a tiny listening space the final output suffered in comparison to the vinyl version which was re-mastered (albeit with inaccuracies) to optimize performance on a 2 channel system with a reference level playback system. As for the price is $750 steep .....sure - but who said this was a cheap hobby?

$750? When I checked when they first released it, it was $500! $750 would be even more outrageous!