Santana Ultra Disc II 24K Gold by Mobile Fidelity

I have the Sony SBM gold and it's d*mn good. I can't imagine the tapes have gotten better in the ten yrs since.

According to mofi, they're reissuing "Abraxas" as well.

I wish they would do that caravanseri...there best ever(imho).That cd still sounds way ahead of its time to me.Percussion sections killer(armanda pereza,michael shreive,ect>)those were the days baby.

The remastered CD of Caravanseri is great sounding. One of my faves.

..got this today and it is outstanding...much better dynamics...better soundstage..more depth..superb..can't wait for abraxas..

I could swear that I owned a Mofi Abraxas years ago. It will be interesting to hear from someone who can compare the previous CD with the new release. Owned the first Santana gold CD on Sony as well.

Double ditto for "Caravanseri". Blew me away in '72 when it came out and the remastered $12.00 CD is excellent. You can probably get one used on Amazon for cheap.

I like to play this for visiting friends who make fun of Carlos' Pop persona of the last couple of decades. His band's first six albums are classics and absolutely superb, and "Caravanseri" has one of the finest guitar solos of all times. Still gives me chills 35 years later.

6.99 from yourmusic.com

I just received the Ultra Disc II 24K Gold from MoFi of the first album, and was totally blown away by the sound.

Beyond awesome!!!

It made almost every other regular CD seem but a pale shadow.

I only regret that I came to the party far too late, since almost all of their classic rock and jazz CDs are no longer in print. Sigh....

Also the cover is one of the best album covers of all time. Took me years before i noticed the lady in the lion. I have the 24 bit sony sbm Cd and it sounds really good. I played it the other day and it's not compressed like alot of the recordings are lately,I cranked it up and it also has 3 live bonus tracks on it.
I have this on 18o 0r 200 gram vinyl culled from the master tapes. Columbia put these out in limited quanitys along with some other recordings around 5 years ago. I haven't played it though and i remember i bought it along with Cheap Thrills by Big Brother and the Holding company in the same format.

I too was hesitant. I had previously purchased an SACD version of Abraxas and was very disappointed. I can't speak to the Evil Ways album, but the MF Gold version of the Abraxas CD (purchased from Acoustic Sounds) is fantastic. The sound is amazing. From the very first ringing chimes on Crying Beasts you will be amazed. I don't usually recommend, but I Highly recommend this one.

Speaking of Santana re-releases, anyone familiar with Santana III [ORIGINAL RECORDING REMASTERED] [SPECIAL EDITION]?

It includes a second disk of a concert recorded live, with Santana as the very last act on the very last night of The Fillmore West in San Francisco.

This version was released February 21, 2006.

Lefhan-> Bought mofi's new reissue of Abraxas on CD so I'm eager to give it a listen when it arrives sometime this week. I own the original standard release so it should be a given this reissue should blow it away.

I went ahead and ordered both the Debut CD and Abraxas CD. Thanks for the review of these discs.
I always liked the songs but didnt like the previous recordings.

I received the re-mastered CD of Caravanserai the other day, and must say I was astounded at the sound -- incredible! Very, very close to the two from MoFi.

The Legacy edition of Santana III is also excellent, if a little piercing at the top end at odd moments and high volume.

What year was the Remastered Caravanserai released?
I can find only remastred in 2003

The RBCD remaster is indeed from 2003. There is a Japanese import from 2006 that is an SACD.

Because of this thread, I now own both the Ultra Disc's Santana debut + Abraxas , the Legacy version of Santana lll and Caravanserai.
I am realy jammin' on Santana , thanks!

By the way, I had a Santana record called, I think, "Shango" that had a few somgs that were pretty good.
Is this one avaialable and how does this one sound?