Jo Stafford-Sweet Hour Of Prayer Side 1
Al Martino-A Merry Christmas Side 2
Tony Bennett-Snowfall Side 1
John Denver-A Rocky Mountain Christmas Side B
Frank Sinatra-The Sinatra Christmas Album Side 2
Alabama-Christmas Side B
Carpenters-Christmas Portrait Side 2
Emmylou Harris-Light Of The Stable Side 2
Some of my favorite Xmas albums unfortunately non were Audiophile SQ. Emmylou Harris was the SQ champ just missing Audiophile status.
Happy Holidays to all on this thread and yes the Audiogon administration they keep this the best audio site!
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@mammothguy54
Yesterday you inquired which pressing of Paul Simon-One Trick Pony I played.
In the deadwax Side 1 HS 1 3472 JW 2 #4 Sterling Stamp with TJ below it there appears to be a (0) after STERLING.
Side 2 is the same but with less clarity. Hope this helps
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@mammothguy54
I will check tomorrow everything has been put away. It's one of the rare recordings with a top level performance(Yes that's subjective) and SQ.
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Paul Simon-One Trick Pony Side 2 SQ Audiophile
Judas Priest-Hell Bent For Leather Side 1
Starland Vocal Band-Rear View Mirror Side A
George Shearing And Hank Jones-The Spirit Of 176 Side 2
Boz Scaggs-Silk Degrees(CBS Half Speed Mastered) Side 2 SQ Audiophile
Michael Franks-The Art Of Tea Side 2 SQ Audiophile
Jethro Tull-M. U. The Best Of Jethro Tull Side 1
Teena Marie-It Must Be Magic Side 2
Judas Priest and Jethro Tull recordings were average at best regarding SQ. Paul Simon and Michael Franks were the SQ champs tonight. Which was better? Not sure would have to analyze the playback several times IMO both rate a 4.6/5. If your not familiar with Starland Vocal Band’s "other" songs give ’Norfolk" 5+ minutes of your time.
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Eurythmics-Sweet Dreams(Are Made Of This) Side B
William Ackerman- Childhood And Memory Side 1
Tony Bennett-Bennett/Berlin Side 2 SQ Audiophile
The Moody Blues-The Other Side Of Life Side 1
Roxy Music-Manifesto-West Side SQ Audiophile*
Arnold Bax-English String Quartet(Chandos ABRD 1113) Side 2 SQ Audiophile
Earl Klugh-Heart String Side 1 SQ Audiophile
The Mama’s And The Papa’s-If You Can Believe Your Eyes And Ears Side 2
All the recordings SQ were above average with the exception of Mama’s/Papa’s. The mono version might sound better? Manifesto* was the weakest of the Audiophile SQ group. Clarity and Resolution was there but it sounded a little "sleepy" not sure if mine is a 1st pressing(no barcode). The all digital Bennett/Berlin was the SQ champ with no edginess or a mechanical digital sound. White Christmas with Dexter Gordon is sublime, Ralph Sharon exclusively plays a Bosendorfer and Bennett/Berlin was mastered by Bob Ludwig.
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Classics IV-The Very Best Of Side 1
Scott Hamilton-ST(CJ-42)barcode Side 1
Rod Stewart-Every Picture Tells A Story Side 2 SQ Audiophile
Freddie Hubbard-Super Blue Side 1 SQ Audiophile
Shirley Bassey-In Person Side B
Van Morrison-His Band And The Street Choir(barcode) Side 1
Art Blakey/Messengers-Jazz Corner Vol.2(1972 Blue Note) Side 1 SQ*
Steely Dan-Katy Lied Side 1 SQ*
With the exception of Classics IV and Shirley Bassey the other recordings were above average in SQ. Super Blue had a a very big sound(Bernie Grundman) only surface noise(tape hiss) was a flaw. (I Know) I'm Losing You is a great rock demo song!!! *The 1972(repress) Blue Note captured the "live" Blue Note sound and was very enjoyable. Katy Lied is a tough recording to judge it sounds great and average at the same time! The bass and PRAT are audiophile quality. The problem in my system is a midrange veil and soft treble attack. This is an original 1975 ABC pressing could be system dependent? A Japanese pressing might have more forward mids and upper frequency energy?
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The Steve Miller Band-Book Of Dreams Side 1
Seals & Crofts-Sudan Village Side 1
Little Johnny Taylor-Open House At My House(Contempo COLP-R-1003) Side 1
The Manhattan Transfer-Coming Out Side 1
Rita Coolidge-Anytime...Anywhere Side 1 SQ Audiophile
Gino Vannelli-Nightwalker Side 2 SQ Audiophile*
The Moody Blues-The Present Side 1
The Doobie Brothers-Livin’ On The Fault Line Side 2
Started off with a real turkey 3x platinum nonsense! My wife even commented this album is awful! Why did I play it? Was curious about the SQ which is just average. The SQ star here was Rita Coolidge. Mastered at The Mastering Lab-Mike Reese. The sound is tight/clean/focused/direct and detailed. Gino Vannelli has a slight digital edge that’s why the*. Dynamic would be the best way to describe this recording mastered by Bernie Grundman. Yes, I’m one of the few that enjoy watered down Moody Blues recordings from the 1980’s!
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@waltersalas Thx for the input. Since I'm not partial to SS or Tubes, do you consider the Luxman quiet enough running 7 tubes? When my Goldring Legacy(.3mv) is on it's last leg considering a Dynavector Karat 17DX as a replacement.
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@boxer12 Thx! Found "The Visitor" at a garage sale this past summer. With the reputation of good SQ of Fleetwood Mac and at $3 M- it was an automatic purchase.
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@spiritofradio Thx! That was one my wife's surviving college albums that I played for her. According to my wife my playlist went downhill after that ending with a blanket over her head(ears) with the beautiful, soulful, and gritty tones of the Staple Singers.
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Dead Or Alive-Mad, Bad, And Dangerous To Know Side 1
Jefferson Airplane-Volunteers Side 2
Mary Travers-Circles Side 1
Mick Fleetwood-The Visitors Side 2 SQ Audiophile
Toshiko Akiyoshi Trio-Dedications Side 2 SQ Audiophile
Jefferson Starship-Red Octopus Side B
Peter Frampton-When All The Pieces Fit Side 2
Staple Singers-City In The Sky Side 2
Update-Replaced 1 pencil tube 6119? on my Allnic H 1200. Still desire an upgrade either a Rega Aura or what is claimed to be a quiet tube phono stage a Luxman EQ 500. I avoid talking gear on this thread with this exception. Any EQ-500 owners on this thread? I would appreciate any feedback.
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Steve Winwood-Arc Of A Diver Side 1
Joe Williams-Live Side 2
West , Bruce & Laing- Why Dontcha Side 2
The O'Jays-Live In London Side 2
Cheap Trick-At Budokan Side B
Tchaikovsky(1812 Overture MS 6073) Side 1 SQ Audiophile
Carmen Mcrae-The Great American Songbook(reissue) Side 3
LA4-Just Friends(Direct To Disc) Side 2 SQ Audiophile
Power quality was lacking today even with 2 dedicated lines? Your always at the mercy of DTE and the recording engineer. I also had a tube acting(noise) up in my Allnic H 1200 phono stage time for a SS upgrade. So not the most enjoyable playback session.
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@slaw From Discogs the reissue is ST 200 year unknown. LAB 2 must be the original pressing.
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@bslon +1 Thelma Houston & Pressure Cooker. This recording belongs in the "Super Disc" category. What stands out to me is how dynamic and uncompressed this recording is. One of the best!
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@tomic601 Thx. Hopefully my grading scale can be useful information too many others.
@bslon Yes, one of the great pop/rock/country recordings of the 1970's.
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Nicolette Larson-Radioland Side 2 SQ Audiophile
Claudio Roditi-Gemini Man Side 1
Jerry Reed-The Man With The Golden Thumb Side B
Angela Bofill-Too Tough Side 1
Chris Conner-Live(Applause APLP-1020) Side 1 SQ Audiophile
Firefall-ST Side 2 SQ Audiophile
Concord Super Band-In Tokyo Side 2 SQ Audiophile
Janie Frickie-Black & White Side 1
A very good sounding playlist tonight with 4 Audiophile level SQ recordings. I was on the fence with Claudio Roditi would need another spin on both sides to decide. Radioland had superb SQ.
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Rod Stewart-Greatest Hits Side 2
Philadelphia Orchestra(MS 6081) Side 2 SQ Audiophile
Gordon Lightfoot-Sundown Side 2
Survivor-Vital Signs Side 1
Emerson, Lake & Powell Side 1
Buddy Rich-Swingin’ New Big Band Side 1
The Jack Rubies-See The Money In My Smile Side A
Phoebe Snow-ST Side A SQ Audiophile
All recordings tonight were above average(SQ) with ELP and The Jack Rubies the weakest.
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The Manhattan Transfer-Vocalese Side 2
Patti Austin-Havana Candy Side 1 SQ Audiophile
Hampton Hawes-Playin’ In The Yard Side 1
Molly Hatchet-Take No Prisoners Side 2
Jorge Bolet-Bolet At Carnegie Hall Side C
John Coltrane-Coltrane Plays The Blues Side 2
Wings-Wings Over America Side 2
Mac Davis-Baby Don’t Get Hooked On Me Side 2 SQ Audiophile
Yes, believe it or not the weakest(lyrically/musically) recording played was the best in SQ, just edging out Havana Candy. A very wide soundstage and natural extended treble was a pleasant surprise.
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@bkeske
Thanks. I probably have 75+ original CJ releases due to SQ/talent and affordability.
LA4-Just Friends CJD-1001(Direct To Disc) is pretty much as good as vinyl gets.
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+1 bkeske (Concord Jazz CJ-136). Do you consider the SQ Audiophile level?
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+1 sbank Bob Welch-French Kiss. An overlooked great sounding(Audiophile Level) recording!
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Luther Vandross-Busy Body Side B SQ Audiophile
The Knack-...but the little girls understand Side 2
Martha Davis-Policy Side 2
Playboy Jazz Festival-VA(Elektra 60298) Side C SQ Audiophile
ZZ Hill-I'm A Blues Man Side 2
Deep Purple-Nobody's Perfect Side 4
Fleetwood Mac-Live Side 3
Rosanne Cash-Rhythm & Romance Side 2
Luther Vandross and The Playboy Jazz Festival just made Audiophile Status. The bass weight and drive was the deciding factor on Busy Body. Nancy Wilson's vocals were recorded with body and clarity not often heard on a live recording.
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Joan Steele-Looking Back... Earl Brown(AP-239) Side 2
Led Zeppelin-II Side 2
'Til Tuesday-Everything's Different Now Side 1
Paul Simon-There Goes Rhymin' Simon Side 1
Tony Bennet-Berlin Side 2
Isaac Hayes-Hot Buttered Soul Side 1
Kiss-Alive II Side 3
Barbra Streisand-Emotion Side 1
Freddie Jackson-Don't Let Love Slip Away Side 2
Three Dog Night-Hard Labor Side B
Nothing made Audiophile SQ status tonight, Paul Simon just missed.
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Kontak cleaner fluid. Purchase from The Cable Company($45). Leaves little to no residue when cleaning cables.
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+1 bslon Gerry Rafferty/Night Owl. IMO it is a Top 50 pop/rock recording of the 1970"s. Is it as good as City To City? Yes but I rate City To City a few notches higher due to the pop masterpiece "Baker Street".
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+1 slaw(EWF)! Not enough great R&B on this thread! Will spin a side of great R&B on Monday night.
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+1 bslon ’til tuesday another overlooked band of the 1980’s. My wife added 2 of there albums to my collection. If found I will clean/spin a side on Monday night!
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AC/DC-Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap Side 2
George Shearing/Mel Torme-Top Drawer Side 2
Bloomfield/Hammond/Dr.John-Triumvirate Side 1
A Tribute To Duke(CJ-50) Side 2 SQ Audiophile
Rosie Vela-Zazu Side 1
Schubert-Piano Sonata(Lydia Artymiw) Side 1
With the exception of AC/DC the rest of the recordings SQ were near Audiophile level. Rosie Vela and Lydia Artimiw recordings had a slight digital "sheen" ."Top Drawer" and "Triumvirate" were very close maybe on a different day/time?
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Miami Vice-Music From The Television Series "Miami Vice" Side 1
Julie London-Tenderly Yours Side B
Mendelssohn-Italian Symphony(MS 6050 Six Eye) Side 1
Sly And The Family Stone-Greatest Hits Side 1
Orleans-Let There Be Music Side 1 SQ Audiophile
Egberto Gismonti-Sol Do Melo Dia(ECM-1-116) Side 1 SQ Audiophile
Chicago-VI Side 2 SQ Audiophile
ELP-Trilogy Side 1 SQ Audiophile
MS 6050 Not one of my better sounding Six Eyes maybe the scuffs? Still a near Audiophile level recording. The bass on Chicago VI was excellent, a very well balanced recording.
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+1 tomic601. Thx for the kind words. Will have another diverse playlist tomorrow night.
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+1 spiritofradio. Thx for the welcome back. I was getting very tired of sitting on the bench! Yes the great Ray Brown on bass. Ironically he passed away in Indiana 2 weeks after a performance in Michigan that I attended(forget the venue).
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This playlist is from last night. After many delays due to moving and contractors backed up schedules my system is up.
The Spinners-The Best Of Side 1
The Beatles-Magical Mystery Tour Side 2
The George Shearing Trio-Breakin’ Out Side 2 SQ Audiophile
John Cougar Mellencamp-Scarecrow Side 1
Pat Benatar-Crimes Of Passion Side A SQ Audiophile
K.D. Lang And The Reclines-Absolute Torch And Twang Side 1 SQ Audiophile
Dee Bell-One By One(CJ-271) Side 1 SQ Audiophile
Frank Gambale-Brave New Guitar(Legato 1001) Side 1 SQ Audiophile
Ray Charles/Cleo Laine-Porgy & Bess- Side B
Liona Boyd-The First Lady Of Guitar(M 35137) Side 1
Regarding sound quality(SQ) I will only post if the recording is at an Audiophile level or Poor if below average.
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+1 noromance Demon In Disguise is a great "somewhat" overlooked recording!
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+1 boxer12 David & David. "Boomtown" easily makes my Top 10 Alternative Rock recordings of the 1980's! If not for Paul Simon and Peter Gabriel it would be a strong contender for album of the year for 1986. |
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+2 boxer12/slaw
Painters/Electricians have delayed the set up of my system. With any luck I should have my 2 dedicated lines installed by 10/25! Have enjoyed that several newer posters have added immensely to this thread. |
+1 slaw Ted Nugent-ST one of the great classic rock albums of the 70's. |
Amy Grant-Age To Age Side 1 SQ 4.3
Thin Lizzy-Jail Break Side B SQ 4.2
The Doobie Brothers-One Step Closer Side 1 SQ 4.3
Phil Woods-I Remember... Side A SQ 4.5
Thelma Houston & Pressure Cooker-I’ve Got The Music In Me Side 1 SQ 4.8
Kiri Te Kanawa-Kiri Sings Gershwin(Angel DS-47454) Side 1 SQ 4.4
Dave Mason-Mariposa de Oro Side 1 SQ 4.4
LA4-Just Friends(D2D CJD-101) Side 1 SQ 4.8 |
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Carpenters-ST Side 2 SQ 4.4
AC/DC-Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap Side 1 SQ 4.3
Muddy Waters-I’M Ready Side 1 SQ 4.2
Dave Mackay & Lori Bell Sextet-’Take Me To Brazil" Side 2 SQ 4.5
Judy Garland-Judy At Carnegie Hall Side 4 SQ 4.3
Nils Lofgren-ST Side 1 SQ 4.4
Bartok-Suite No,1/Two Pictures(London CS 7120) Side 2 SQ 4.6
Eric Dolphy-Out To Lunch(Blue 75 reissue) Side 1 SQ 4.4 |
Chet Akins-The Other Chet Akins(LSP-2175) Side 1 SQ 4.5
Barbra Streisand-The Broadway Album Side 2 SQ 4.3
Chuck Mangione-Chase The Clouds Away Side 2 SQ 4.4
Johnny Cash-Songbook Side 1 SQ 4.3
Jefferson Airplane-The Worst Of Side 1 SQ 4
ELO-Discovery Side 1 SQ 4.2
John Lee Hooker-"Mad Man Blues" Side 3 SQ 3.8
Rita Coolidge-Fall Into Spring Side 1 SQ 4.5 |
Hi clearthinker thanks for responding. Yes having a 0-5 scale is slighly compressed but only because many recordings fall in a very narrow window of sound quality(3.8-4,4) which gives 1/10 a point great significance. Unacceptable is 3.9 or < as was posted. Theoretically a record could rate a 1 but being an audiophile more then a collector my scale is biased towards audiophiles. A poor sounding damaged record would never be in my collection or many others. The lowest rated record(non damaged} so far has been 3.4 due only for sound quality. On the other end of the spectrum two recordings so far have received a 4,8 a Sheffield Labs/Harry James LAB 11 and a Mercury/Balalaika SR 90310. I do agree with you that nothing can be a 10 or 5(my scale) but I could run across a 4.9 I have played(graded) about 45% of my vinyl collection which contains around 1400 albums. In conclusion I do place more value between 4-5 on my scale because that is where a majority of modern vinyl resides, so yes its skewed but not misleading. |
It"s a grading scale of 5
4.5> Audiophile SQ
4.4 Near audiophile SQ
4,3 Above average SQ
4,2 Average SQ(nondistracting)
4.1 Acceptable SQ(distracting)
4. Borderline SQ
3,9< Unacceptable SQ
The most difficult grade is a 4,4. I always grade to a lower end bias, so many graded 4.4 could be audiophile level recordings on your own system.
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Dion-Yo Frankie Side 1 SQ 4.2
Laurindo Almeida-Duets With The Spanish Guitar Album 2 Side 1 SQ 4.5
Billy Squier-Don't Say No Side 2 SQ 4.3
Emmylou Harris-Angel Band Side 1 SQ 4.3
Billy Joel-Songs From The Attic(CBS Half Speed Mastered) Side 1 SQ 4.5
Liszt-Hungarian Rhapsodies(RCA Red Seal LSC-3085) Side 1 SQ 4.5
Jennifer Holliday-Feel My Soul Side 1 SQ 4.4
Grover Washington Jr.-Time Out Of Mind Side 1 SQ 4.2 |
Karla Bonoff-ST Side 1 SQ 4.3
Black Sabbath-Mob Rules Side 1 SQ 3.8
Elton John-Live In Australia Side 3 SQ 4.6
Mendelssohn-A Midsummer Night's Dream(Mercury MG 50174) Side 1 SQ 4.4
Blondie-Eat To The Beat Side 1 SQ 4
John Lewis & Hank Jones-...Two Grand Pianos Side 1 SQ 4.5
Willie Nelson-City Of New Orleans Side 1 SQ 4.3
Crusaders-The Good And Bad Times Side 1 SQ 4.4 |
Kiss-Alive! Side 3 SQ 4.3
Mary Macgregor-,,,In Your Eyes Side 1 SQ 4.3
Little Junior Parker-Driving Wheel(Reissue) Side 1 SQ 3.6***
Mike Wofford-Plays Gerald Wilson Side 2 SQ 4.6
Joe Jackson-Blaze Of Glory Side 2 SQ 4.6
Rosemary Clooney-Roses Sings Bing Side 1 SQ 4.3
*** Another example of a poor reissue. Not assuming the original 1962 pressing is even near audiophile level but I bet it is listenable. On a positive note "Blaze Of Glory" and the Mike Wofford recording are outstanding in both performance and SQ! |
+1 big_greg
Do you own Ernie Sings & Glen Picks?
It is a true audiophile level recording(1st pressing)
I rated it a 4.6 |
Mr. B-B's Bounce(Boo-Kay Records} Side A SQ 4.5
Grofe-The Grand Canyon Suite(CBS Half Speed Mastered) Side 1 SQ 4.6
Robin Trower-Bridge Of Sighs Side 1 SQ 4.2
Al Martino-We Could Side 1 SQ 4.2
Z. Z. Hill-Velvet Soul Side 1 SQ 3.9
John Cougar Mellencamp-The Lonesome Jubilee Side 1 SQ 4.4
Harry Connick Jr.-20 Side 1 SQ 4.4
Judy Collins-Colors Of The Day Side 2 SQ 4.6 |
Schumann-Symphony No,3(Mercury MG 50133) Side 1 & 2 SQ 4.4
The Statler Bros.-Entertainers...On And Off The Record Side A SQ 4.3
Iron Maiden-Piece Of Mind Side 1 SQ 4.3
Martha Davis-Policy Side 1 SQ 4.3
Van Morrison-Hard Nose The Highway(Barcode) Side 1 SQ 4.3
LA4-Live At Montreux Side 2 SQ 4.7
Joe Williams-Every Night Side B SQ 4,5
FWIW-The Babys-Union Jacks Side 1 was played on 8/23 and 4/19. Manhattan Transfer Bodies And Souls Side 2 8/23 and 2/23. Surprised I only had 2 repeats, checked my posts 3 times so 2 repeats it is! Since 4/14/20 - 4/25 have played 620 album sides, occasionally playing both sides. With approximately 1350 albums 46% of my collection has been played. |
