For me its the first or very early LP's of: Allman Brothers - "Allman Joys" "Idyllwild South" Santana - "Santana" 200 g reissue Emerson Lake and Palmer - "Emerson Lake and Palmer" and, Beethoven - "Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Major" Rudolph Serkin/Ozawa/BSO
@reubent, The Kinks are one of my favorite live bands. I saw them in '70 and '71, I believe it was (could have been '69 and '70). Also one of the loudest, louder than The Who!
Hotel California The Dream Weaver Between the Lines (Janis Ian, with a rare hit, Seventeen) Aja (Shootout. Mo-Fi got hammered. By a totally random average used LP. Not even close. And they charge a premium for this crap!) The Ghost of Tom Joad
@millercarbon I have a used copy of Aja, just an original pressing and the SQ is sublime, right up there with some of the best I have, cost was $1.....
@millercarbon I have a used copy of Aja, just an original pressing and the SQ is sublime, right up there with some of the best I have, cost was $1.....
For years I went along with the assumption or conventional wisdom that what was on the recording was on the vinyl, that the only real difference between any two pressings was ticks and pops and noise. That all changed recently when I began comparing different copies and not for noise but for SQ.
Case in point, couple nights ago I opened a brand new 200g Analogue Productions copy of Linda Ronstadt What's New. Right away I was disappointed by it having just as much surface noise as my ancient $4.99 used record bin copy. That was nothing though compared to the sound. Within a few minutes I was uncomfortable enough to pull it and drop the needle on my old copy. The ordinary old one was MUCH BETTER! No more syrupy strings, they had just the right amount of bite and body and focus. LR's voice was present and emotive and enveloped in the ambience of the hall. The Analogue Productions, festooned with stickers bragging how good it is, comes nowhere close. It is frankly pure pabulum and crap!
Ditto the MoFi of Aja. Ordinary cheap used record bin LP positively trounced the MoFi. On deck for shootouts are several copies of Crime of the Century, Dark Side of the Moon, and Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. I can already anticipate its gonna be a blowout because when I recently compared two ordinary copies of GYBR my sonic spider senses were telling me the better one sounds better even than my MoFi.
I actually hate having to do this- take up space in a thread, take up my precious listening time. But people need to know. This is not bargain hunter braggadicio. This is a whole industry of fake audiophile pressings that sound like crap! Okay there are exceptions. My Reference Recordings pressings are universally excellent in every respect. Probably there are others like this too. But this is different. There is nothing to compare them with. I'm talking about audiophile reissues, remasters, half-speed masters, heavy vinyl reissues, yes even 45s. Every one of those I have compared so far is bested by whatever came out of the record bin.
"just an original pressing and the SQ is sublime" -uberwaltz
I have a $2.98 used copy of Aja that
I use as a reference whenever I make changes to one of my turntables. I have a MOFI and a heavyweight copy of it also, but the 3 dollar one sounds great.
I've been really happy with most of the MOFI vinyl pressings I've purchased. I have a couple where another "standard" pressing sounds as good, or better.
I've been disappointed with Analogue Productions. I had to get 2 or 3 copies of Roger Waters Amused to Death before I got one that wasn't warped. I just bought It's Like This by Rickie Lee Jones and it was pretty noisy.
@millercarbon, I'm not disagreeing with you......just wondering if you've tried raising the VTA on the thicker lps that sounded inferior sonically? I've had my issues with AP as well. Most of what I get is off-center, dished or warped. I sent "Carney" back because it was so noisy and soundstage direct checked another copy which they said was noisy as well. I can take care of a lot of these quirks but some are just to bad to fool with.
I her you slaw but its not a matter of VTA or thickness. The MoFi and regular pressing of Aja are standard thickness. The APO of What’s New is a lot thicker, but anyone who’s spent much time adjusting VTA by ear will be familiar with the sonic signature, and this ain’t it.
Radiohead - Kid A Roger Waters - Amused to Death - AP 200g 45rpm - SQ, staging, sound stage, dynamics are just so incredible. There aren't many equals to this one
i actively hate everything pink floyd did after waters departed + everything waters did after leaving--the records have the sonics but none of the spirit
Lucinda Williams - Car Wheels on a Gravel Road (love the song Lake Charles) The Doors - self titled (Rhino Reissue) Neil Young - Songs For Judy Dire Straits - Making Movies (Pallas)
It's a pressing from the Netherlands. I picked up a couple of other records that came from the Netherlands at my local record store recently. Whoever had them took really good care of them and they sound great.
Sadly, the last true Floyd album was Animals, and even then the cracks were beginning to appear in the edifice, so, make that Wish You Were Here then. Released around September 1975, some 8 short years after Piper.
i love animals and actually admired the final cut, which alienated a lot of fans--it's depressing but the songs stick with me some 35 years later, which i guess is the sign of a good record.
Lots of opinions on Floyd, good that nobody is wrong. But Dark Side is by far the best, Animals was more palatable as a teenager and didn't age as well as the others to me, love The Wall and incredible sonics. I couldn't follow as much when they split. Stayed mad at Waters for years (same with Byrne for breaking up the THeads) but I got over most of it.
Surprised at some of the folks having an issue with the AP 200g, I freaking love the stuff. Dead flat, very quiet, phenomenal SQ. Zero quality issues out of maybe 65 titles of 200g 33 and 45. No warping at all is I do have some vintage Mofi that is not anything special. My OP of Katy Lied is better than my NM vintage Mofi copy. The Mofi version is flat sounding. But I have some that I really like.
Got my VPI Classic 3 Sig SE set back up after around 2 years. Put on my Acutex 420STR. WOW. Everything is sounding much better that before. Additions are an ADS and dual pivot. It's going to be a good weekend.
The Acutex has always been a great cartridge. I had it re-tipped with a Shibata. It has around 150 hours on it now. A great cartridge, much improved.
I’ve gone from two to three belts now. Two was the most noticeable improvement with a somewhat warmer presentation and improved bass response. Coming closer to my Rock 7 but still lacks that tt’s overall, organic presentation.
Listening to "Moon Shaped Pool" the bass moves me in my room. It surrounds me, then comes from underneath me. This lp has moved up several notches in enjoyment for me now. ………………………………….. America "Homecoming" OP … one of my all time favorites!
For the record....others expressed their feelings earlier...
I don’t actively hate any one, or any type of music or it’s creator.
I take music for what it is and try to appreciate how it evolved.
It actually bothers me when others say, "I hate this". That kind of statement should be re-evaluated for it’s connotation. …………………………… Heading off to work in a little while...…….
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