Kaleidoscope - "Tangerine Dream" (Fontana UK '67/ Repertoire UK '05)
Kaleidoscope - "Faintly Blowing" (Fontana UK '69/Repertoire UK '05)
Fairfield Parlour - "From Home To Home" (Vertigo UK '70/Repertoire UK '04)
Kaleidoscope - "The Sidekicks Sessions 1964-1967" (Alchemy '03)
...All the same British band, evolving from garagey Beat/R&B as The Sidekicks and Moddish foppery as The Key (both represented on poor-sounding rediscovered demo acetates only), to electric + folky-baroque lite psych as Kaleidoscope, to mildly proggy classic AOR as Fairfield Parlour, with consice melodic pop and fanciful poetic/introspective lyrical sensibilities at their core. |
Janet Baker:
"A Treasury of English Songs" truly magical inspite of being a EMI "Angel"!
Kings College Cambridge:
Purcell "Funeral Music for Queen Mary" (EMI)
Allegri "Misereri", Palestrina "Stabat Mater" (Argo)
both of these LPs are old staples for me.
Corydon Singers:
Howells "Requiem
Vaughn Willams "Mass in G minor"
Bruckner Motets
This group has several LPs on Hyperion and are all amazing
all of these LPs are original 1960s and 1970s pressings
all played in reverse phase,,,a recent discovery that is making many of my records (mostly British) sound like a different (and correct) recordings.
,,,,,give it a try |
Hi Emorrisiv. I'm fortunate (or cursed, depending on your viewpoint!) in that my preamp affords remote control of absolute phase, AKA polarity, from the listening position. I try to determine the best polarity setting for any recording before listening (other than sometimes casual or background listening), and have amassed experience in doing this with thousands of recordings over several years.
The truth I've found is that many, if not most recordings are either only mildly sensitive to polarity at best; or apparently insensitive enough that I can never be sure which the preferred or "correct" setting actually is; or display one preferred setting for one solo instrument or voice but the other setting for another soloist; or confusingly display opposite preferences for soloists vs. backgrounds; and/or vary in these regards and thus the preferred setting from cut to cut on an album. And I often find that it's quite possible to convince myself that one or the other setting is "correct", only to change my mind upon subsequent relistening (additionally, this can change as I vary my listening distance within the room, or even the volume setting).
On the other hand, many other recordings do seem to show a polarity preference that's constant and not difficult to determine. In the final tally, I'd guesstimate that I do determine a setting which I prefer on balance for around 85% of recordings (the other 15% being pick'em). The funny thing is, try as I have, I can't really say that these recordings possess any likely characteristics in common, such as being "minimally miked" or "naturally recorded". Sometimes "purist" or live recordings you'd think would be a slam dunk in theory are impossible to determine the "correct" polarity with, while some heavily multitracked studio creations are quick and easy to determine.
However -- as you'd expect given the disregard to polarity throughout the miking, recording, mastering, and production processes for most recordings, and the fact that most playback loudspeakers aren't so-called "minimum phase" designs but instead use high-order crossovers that rotate phase and multiple drivers often wired in opposing polarities -- in the end, the breakdown between "straight" and "inverse" settings in my experience approaches a 50/50 split with those recordings for which a preference can be determined, with maybe just a 10%-15% tilt toward the nominally "correct" setting when using 1st-order or single-driver, minimum-phase loudspeakers.
The upshot of which is, I'd be leery of declaring one or the other polarity setting best for any arbitrary group of recordings based on some incidental characteristic such as country of origin. Especially if you're having to reverse polarity by reversing speaker leads, since that doesn't allow for rapid, multiple A/B comparisons from the listening position -- it's just too easy to confuse or convince onesself that way. But having said all that, I do commend you on bothering to experiment with polarity, and can only say "go for it and enjoy it!" if you've found any rules you can live happily by. |
Blood on the track - Bob Dylan on Columbia
Rodrigo y Gabriela - S/T on ATO Records
The Shadow of Your Smile - Friends of Dean Martinez on SUB POP
~ this is a beautiful Southwestern alt rock surf album with the early Calexico boys along for the ride. very cool start to two great bands.
Eric Burdon Declares "WAR" - Eric Burdon on MGM
~classic none radio play version of "Spill the Wine"
The Blues and the Abstract Truth - Bill Evans on new Impulse AP 45RPM
*a lot of great vinyl is being mentioned on this thread over the years, if you love some titles that are either very rare on vinyl these days or have never been pressed to it, please add them to the "Vinyl wish list thread" here on AudioGon...
Happy (Analogue) Listening! |
Helo Zaikesman: thanks for the kind and informative response.
I agree with everything you are saying. Indeed some recordings sound very much the same with either phase polarity.However, I have found that my English Cathedral Music,(of which I am most intimate and expert being a life long chorister)shows phase in a dramatic way.
Many of these recordings are done in rooms of immense space,with huge powerful organs.That, and the very fast and immediate power of boys(most of the time)voices to reach into the sonic stratosphere,can tax a system to the extreme.
When the phase is correct,these transients work much better and are less problematic,i.e. cleaner.
I have also found that the room/soundstage is much more correct and recognizable.English choirs stand in antiphonal fashion,left and right of center and usually under the organ divisions. Indeed they are named;the right is the "Decani" (where the dean sits),the other is the "Cantorus"(where the cantor or precentor sits).When the phase is incorrect, the antiphonal effect is lost, and the ambient room decay and reverberation is shortened.
When listening to "pop" records,I have found the dead give away to phase is listening to cymbals.When there is a hit,but no crash or sizzle, the phase is incorrect.
I have been a "audiophile" for over 30 years, and I have just discovered this phenomenon. I also just discovered "loading" of the phono stage. Between these two epiphany, I am listening to some of my most beloved records (many that I have owned for over 30 years)as if they were new. I am having so much fun.
Recently I had a friend over for a listen.He was the guy that showed me the phase thing and for that I am indebted. He told me that I was a software guy,not a hardware guy.I suppose he is right,in that I value music first above all else in the hobby.I find the more I learn about the technical side the more interested it becomes a vehicle for making what I love better.
what a fun hobby
Happy Christmas to all |
Thanks Emorrisiv. I have no doubt you can hear which polarity is correct with these LPs. My point was just that, given a fairly random distribution of labels, studios or locations, recording engineers, mastering labs, pressing plants etc., together with general indifference to maintainance of input-to-output polarity by these various entities, then "correct" choice of playback polarity should be expected to show a fairly random distribution as well.
The only reason I bring these things up, I suppose, is that I've ocassionally seen stuff over the years where some audiophiles promote running in "reverse phase" at all times, or with recordings of certain origin, as being some kind of panacea, which to me betrays a basic lack of understanding of the issue. (I recall an amplifier review in Stereophile once where the manufacturer advised the reviewer to reverse his speaker leads as a matter of course to get 'better' sound. The reviewer did, and agreed with the manufacturer. But this is an impossible outcome unless all recordings are made with the same polarity, which clearly they aren't. The reason for this, I suspect, is that sometimes we tend to hear any differences that result from our own hopeful actions as being improvements, when in reality what may be an improvement in some instances in others may be just a difference.)
It's cool you've also discovered MC loading too. We all know how this affects HF response (some like the extra 'air' of running unloaded, but personally I can't abide the accompanying mid-treble peakiness that damages natural timbre). However what I've also found, that you don't usually see so much about, is how loading affects image density and focus. Listen for this when you determine optimal loading, and then if you go back and compare the sound to running less loaded or unloaded, you might notice that your corporeal and located images have now become diffuse and lacking in substance and energy.
Anyway, getting back to the thread at hand, as the snow continues to come down:
Stackridge - "Pinafore Days" (Sire '74)
Pretty Things - "Parachute" (Rare Earth/Motown '70)
Puff - S/T (MGM '69)
Collins/Shepley Galaxy - "Time, Space And The Blues" (MTA Records, sometime shortly after the lunar landing to judge by the concept, jacket pix and song titles. Oliver Nelson-ish large band led by Duke Pearson sidemen Burt Collins and Joe Shepley both on trumpets and flugelhorns, with Bob Cranshaw and Mickey Roker rhythm section. Nice plush sound in a large acoustic courtesy Columbia's 30th street studio.) |
Thanks Z: I agree with you completely. The loading has is giving me a much more defined sound stage,not to mention deeper and wider and taller. I feel that I am close in that there is still tremendous heft and power in the fundamentals.Bass lines are just as full as before but tighter,easier to follow. I feel that the loading has lowered the sound floor so much that EVERYTHING is better. Indeed I have never had a better system.
I am listening to records as though I have never heard them before. Old chestnuts are no longer old because I have never heard the inner details and nuances like this.
now for what I am listening to tonight:
Jethro Tull "Thick as a Brick"
Christy Moore "Ordinary Man"
Kings College "Durafle Requiem"
Sphere "Flight Path"
e |
I've just spun Kaleidoscope (the American band featuring David Lindley) Side Trips c 1967, rereleased, picked up at a record show, mostly because of an affinity for Lindley's post Jackson Browne stuff. i have a feeling Mr. Bungle might have played it. Now I gotta check out Zaikesman's Brit band of the same name....... |
Elvis Presley "Elvis is Back!" (Speakers Corner reissue)
Frank Sinatra "Songs for swingin' lovers" (Capitol gray label)
Stefan Wolpe "Trio" for flute, piano and cello, CRI 233
Beethoven "Archduke Trio" Barenboim, du Pre, Zukerman, EMI ASD 2572
Victoria de los Angeles "Zarzuela Arias," EMI ASD 2415 (superb)
Vivaldi "Gloria in D Major," Academy of Ancient Music, Choir of Christ Church Cathedral, L'Oiseau Lyre DSLO 554
The Organ in St Dominic's Priory London, Thomas Murray organist, Vista VPS 1069 (these Vista organ recordings are always incredibly good!)
The Cozens Lute Book, Anthony Rooley, L'Oiseau Lyre DSLO 510 (outstanding)
. |
New Norah Jones - it's OK, I don't remember the title if that says anything
Stevie Ray Vaughn - Texas Flood, sublime
Areatha Franklin - Live at the Filmore East
The Producers - You Make the Heat (very guilty pleasure)
Chet Baker - Chet Baker Sings |
Rushton, I love your last 3 choices!
e |
Just wonderful performances and recordings, aren't they!
. |
The Producers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wow, i thought I was the only one. I like their debut record better than You Make the Heat though. What a great power pop band. I picked up both copies of their first two records in mint condition last week for $3 each. The vinyl store I bought them in had them in the 'Lunch Money' section. What a find!
Only power pop band of the late 70's / early 80's that I liked better was 20/20. |
Prokofiev, Piano Conc No. 3, Kondrashin/MoscowPO, Byron Janis,
Rachmaninov, Piano Conc No. 1, Kondrashin/MoscowPO, Byron Janis,
.. Mercury SR 90300 Speakers Corner reissue
Shostakovich, String Quartet No. 8, Borodin Quartet
Shostakovich, String Quartet No. 4, Borodin Quartet
.. Mercury SR 90309, Speakers Corner reissue
Working my way through the 5LP box set of the recordings made by Mercury as the "First recordings ever made in the Soviet Union by American technical and musical staff and equipment. Recorded by Mercury on location in Moscow." What a set!
. |
Truly excellent list Rushton.
e |
Music is what sustains us, is it not?
Today:
Handel's Messiah with McGegan and The PhilharmoniavBaroque with the incomparable Lorraine Hunt (a glorious performance only available on CD, unfortunately)
Chopin, Piano Concerto No. 1, Abbado/LSO, Argerich -pf, DGG 139 383
Sibelius, Symphony No. 2, Barbirolli/RPO, Chesky reissue
Joan Baez, "Any Day Now - Songs of Bob Dylan," Vanguard VSD 79306/7 (Well, the first LP of two. By then she wore me out.)
Bill Monroe, "7th Annual Bluegrass Festival at Bean Blossom" MCA 2-8002 (great music making!)
. |
Ralph Towner - Solo Concert
Dire Straits - Private Investigations (side 1)
Dire Straits - Eponymous (side 1) |
Well, Merry Christmas vinyl lovers...
Last night we tried in vein to get through the
Orphans box set by Tom Waits on ANTI Records
Huge box, 7 Lps, nice!
and again, A lot of great vinyl has being mentioned on this thread over the years, if you love some titles that are either very rare on vinyl these days or have never been pressed, please add them to the "Wish List For Vinyl Pressings" here on AudioGon...
Happy Listening! |
Ghosthouse: The Dire Straits "Private Investigations" has become a reference for some of us in our local club.It seems to me that all the Dire Straits recordings are excellent; low noise floor and very nuanced and uncompressed,but the "Love Over Gold" is the best of all.
I just got a nice copy of Mark Knopfler's music of the film
"Local Hero". Again,low sound floor,nuanced and uncompressed sounding.
There is a track where the beginning is a old car(bad muffler) starts up that can startle anyone (and usually does).
e |
Al Green - Greatest Hits
Led Zeppenlin - II (unopened, green Mexican pressing from '81, pretty cool), IV (orginal '71 pressing, in great shape after a 3rd cleaning)
Cassandra Wilson - Loverly
Radiohead - Pablo Honey, new but with a significant warp, thank God for the periphery ring.
Tears for Fears - Seeds of Love (like new), Songs from the Big Chair
Badfinger - Straight Up, not a great copy, but hard to find a good one
Black Sabbath - Paranoid
Shelby Lynne - Just a Little Lovin (one of my all time Fav's) |
e -
I messed up on the album title...but the track, Private Investigations is definitely one of my favorites. Glad you like it too. I have a vinyl copy of Local Hero...haven't played it in a while. I will have to it out. Merry Christmas to you. |
Philb7777,
I must admit that after reading your post, in response to my admission to listening to the Producers, I went to the garage and grabbed the following albums, steam/Walker Solutions, cleaned them then had a very guilty '80's listening session:
The Power Station
Duran Duran - Rio
The Outfield - Play Deep
The Fixx - Reach the Beach
ahh, it feels good to get that off my chest, I've been feeling so guilty. |
I'm rockin' Joe Meek-I Hear A New World on LP now. |
Yesterday with friends over...
Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No. 3, with Horowitz and Ormandy
Shostakovich Symphonies Nos. 6 and 11, with Berglund/EMI
Jennifer Warnes, Famous Blue Raincoat, Cisco reissue
Paul Winter Consort, Roads
Natalie Merchant "Tiger Lily," Mobile Fidelity
Holst, Savitri with Janet Baker, Argo
Shostakovich Piano Concerto, Bernstein on piano
. |
The Greatest - Cat Power on Matador
freaking beautiful!
Morrison Hotel - The Doors on reissue Elektra
Nice sonics, excellent reissue.
Cheap Thrills - Big Brother and the Holding Co. with Janis Joplin on six eye Stereo Columbia
RIP James, your licks are still top notch.
Crescent - John Coltrane Quartet Impulse/ORG 45RPM reissue.
what can I say that hasn't been said...
Happy New Year all and Happy Listening! |
Shelley Manne & Friends, "Modern Jazz Performances Of Songs From My Fair Lady"
Louis Armstrong, "Live from the Crescent, Vol 1"
Charles Mingus / Thad Jones, "Jazz Collaborations, Vol. 1"
Art Pepper, "Art Pepper Meets The Rhythm Section"
Eiji Kitamura, "Swing Sessions"
Rossini, Overtures - Gamba/LSO
Rossini, Overtures - Chung/Orch Accademia N. di S.Cecilia
Holst, "Savitri"
Rossini-Respighi, "La Boutique Fantasque" Ansermet
Enescu, Sonata for Violin & Pf No. 3 in Romanian Folkstyle"
Arne Domnerus, "Antiphone Blues"
. |
I just played the stereo version of Cannonball's 'Somethin Else' on Classic clarity vinyl (4 sided 45 RPM). Unbelievable music, recording and pressing. Anyone out there try other titles on Clarity vinyl? |
Years ago, Jim THIEL gave me a Sting Album with the song,
"There's a Moon Over Bourbon Street" on it, for my birthday. That's on...love it.
I always think of him when I play it. Nice gift!
Larry |
Bkonig,
No I haven't. I will though.
Do you have, Nancy Wilson and Cannonball Adderly, her first album???
Circa 1962--it has THE DIFINITIVE VERSION of, "I Can't Get Started". He does things that only Charlie Parker or MAYBE Phil Woods (without the soul) could have done. It's amazing.
Capital Album, it's available on CD as a re-release. I really wish they'd remaster that.
Great TASTE man!
Larry |
MacDadTX -
Don't feel guilty! Check out my new year's 'revival':
Prefab Sprout - Steve McQueen
The Blue Nile - Walk Across the Rooftops
Pyschedelic Furs - Mirror Moves
The Clash - London Calling
Elvis Costello - Armed Forces
By the way - you ought to find the Arcadia album (Simon Lebon's answer to Power Station). Incredible bass and music. Rather well recorded too. |
Britten's Prince of the Pagodas, a thrift shop find for a buck (I talked them down to 50 cents) looked unplayed and sounds wonderful even though it's tas listed. (2 discs, London Treasury (orange label) sts-15081/2. |
Stunned again tonight by how incredibly good this record is:
"Power of the Orchestra: Mussorgsky's Night on Bare Mountain and Pictures at an Exhibition," RCA VICS 2659 -45 (45 rpm reissue from Analogue Productions) (The Kenneth Wilkinson engineering is simply awe inspiring in this superb new 45 rpm mastering.)
. |
Rushton-
That recording is on my shopping list.
Tonight:
Mahler "Symphony No. 2 in C minor "Resurrection"" Mehta/Vienna PO (Super Analogue Disc KIJC 9139/40 reissue of the original London)
David Gilmour "Live in Gdansk" (Columbia 88697344701 DC1) 5 LP set of 8/26/06 concert at the Gdansk shipyard in Poland
Wrapping the evening up with:
Bill Evans Trio "Moonbeams" (Riverside RLP-9428) |
Rushton: I love most of your recordings. We could have a good time together listening. The Holst Savitri is a very interesting piece, and with Janet Baker how can you lose?
I have the Shostakovitch piano concerto on Chandos with the son conducting and the grandson playing the piano.A really fine LP even though it is a digital master. The ever popular FBR is always fun.Love "Joan of Arc. Though I prefer my original issue over the reissue. Of course that is IMHO.
Keep up the great listening and listing.
e |
Emorrisiv, I agree that we seem to travel similar paths musically. It would be a lot of fun to get together and share some music. If you're ever near Richmond, Virginia, you have an open invitation to join me here! I think we will also find Slipknot1 traveling along many of the same roads with us.
Cheers! |
New Dire Straits debut LP 180 gram remaster. Sounds very good but not sure I like it better than the Phonogram 1/2 speed remaster import from several years ago. Funny thing is that my Straits LP is 11.99 inches and not 12 inches in diameter. My VPI peripheral ring keeps falling off one edge of the record!
Also listening to:
Thelonius Monk - Something in Blue
The The - Mindbomb (great and underrated LP)
Elvis Costello - This Year's Model MFSL release |
The Hot Spot [Original Soundtrack] with Miles Davis, Taj Mahal, John Lee Hooker, Roy Rogers, Earl Palmer and Tim Drummond. - Antilles/AP 45RPM
The original Antilles vinyl was rare and beautiful (Sounded excellent) but friends, this is a stunning line up and a soundtrack that only a Dennis Hopper movie could have had a hand in... Don't wait too long or the Antilles/AP 45 RPM version will be history too and you still won't have a copy in your library. The pressing quality and mastering are what Analogue Productions is so well known for, in a word, outstanding. This is another title that Chad of Acoustic Sounds and Acoustic Productions hunted down for years to repress for everyone else. Bravo! Chad Cheers!
Happy Listening! |
Rushton, thanks for the invitation.I will return the same if you ever find yourself in Cincinnati,Ohio please give me a message. I listen all the time and would love to have you and the same goes for slipknot.
Just rebuilt my Hafler 220 and it is blowing my mind. All new caps and 80% more saturation in the power caps.So much more air and nuance plus a much lower sound floor. I am a happy camper.The Acoustats are really singing now.
listening to Corydon Singers performing Ralph Vaughn Williams
"Mass in G",Howells Requiem on Hyperion. I bought this when it came out back in the early 80s.Amazing recording and sublime music.
cheers
e |
Thank you, Emorrisiv. The RVW Mass is a lovely piece and you're listening to a favorite performance. Beautifully recorded for Hyperion by Antony Howell.
. |
ZAO "Shekina"
EAST "Jatekok" rare English version (Smacky gots both versions because Smacky is a Prog Guru.) |
Shostakovich, Cello Concerto No. 1
Walton, Cello Concerto
-- Berglund/BournmouthSO, Paul Tortelier, cello, EMI ASD 2924
. |
Just picked up several lps at Half-Priced bookstore. Here are my really good fines:
Victory at Sea #1. Ship's cannons firing salvos all over the place.Ship's horns blowing and even moving across the sound stage. Music akin to Elgar symphonic tone poems.Super pressing.
Carousel. 35mm recording of Richard Rogers Broadway classic.Incredible sonics. Great singers including Roberta Peters and Norman Treagle. The singers actually move across the sound stage as they sing.I have never heard anything like it.Paid $1.98 in near mint condition.
MHS/Lyrita of Bax symphony #6.
MHS/Lyrita of Bliss "Meditations on a theme by John Blow".
both of these have very good presence and sonics ala Lyrita.
Mint condition for $2.98 each.
Phoebe Snow debut album. VG++ condition
Wonderful pressing,deep sound stage with her amazing and unique voice. $2.98
Rushton, you would love these.
e |
e-
Where is the Half-Priced bookstore you go to located? |
Cheap Trick- Heaven Tonight. Great songs on a really decent sounding rock LP. I love the chords from the albums title track. And Robins' voice. Greatest singer in rock. Your opinion may differ. |
e, you're right, I would love them. I have the Bax on Lyrita. I'm always impressed with how good the MHS issues are. The Victory at Sea is simply great fun, isn't it? |
Rushton:
The first time I heard the ship's horn I laughed out loud!
I love Lyritas. As you know I am a true Anglophile.I could kick myself for not buying more of them back when they were easy to get.Try to pick up the Bliss if you can,you will surely love it.
Playing with my DIY SUT transformers.They have truly changed my system.wow!
e |
e, my three favorite labels are Decca, Harmonia Mundi and Lyrita. With most of their recordings, these three labels capture exceptionally natural and realistic renderings of acoustic performances.
A common denominator for Lyrita and Decca is Kenneth Wilkinson, a recording engineer whom I greatly admire when allowed to follow his own aesthetic values, as is most consistently reflected the work he did for Lyrita. What an incredible legacy.
. |
1's and 0's...
Jim Hall - "Hallmarks: The Best Of" [Concord/Telarc 2CD '06] Collection from Milestone and Concord Jazz albums circa '71-'01
Joe Henderson - "Page One" [Blue Note RVG ed. '63/'99] Wonderfully enjoyable set featuring Kenny Dorham and McCoy Tyner
The Kelly Brothers - "Sactified Southern Soul" [Excello/AVI '96] Fantastic collection of Sims and Excello label singles from lesser-known 60's three-piece vocal group
The Mad Lads - "In Action" [Collectibles/Rhino '66/'99] Volt album reissue + 4 bonus tracks sweet Memphis group soul, sheer perfection and original demented cartoon cover art
Bach: Cello Suites - Ralph Kirshbaum cello [Virgin Classics 2CD '94/'99] |
Rushton, once again I agree with you 100%, and I would add Hyperion and Proprius to my favorites. For the combination of high quality recordings and performances it is hard to beat the London/Decca/Argo label. The K.Wilkinson pressings of course are most revered. You know to look for a "G" at the end of the stamper number? G= Kenneth Wilkinson.
Just got a EMI/Angel 45rpm of Respighi "Pines of Rome".This may be the best Angel I have heard. Incredible dynamics and very fine playing of a exciting piece.Complete with birds chirping!
The new DIY SUT is really working!
e |
e, we continue to agree about Hyperion and Proprius. Over the years, I've tended to watch for certain recording engineers and have rarely been disappointed with the work by a number whom I value highly, starting with Kenneth Wilkinson. See the following thread on Labels and Recording Engineers to which we've both contributed in the past. As to the Decca stamper letters, I believe "G" stands for Ted Burkett, one of the best Decca mastering engineers. See Arthur Salvatore's comments about the "G" "W" and "K" mastering engineer designations. Cheers, |
