Is This Really An Audiophile Record?
A Hall of Shame pressing and another Classic Records LP debunked. I've long held that the Classic Records Heavy Vinyl remaster (scandalously it's on the TAS List of Super Discs) is nothing less than a crime against music lovers and audiophiles of every stripe. Boosting the bass and highs and adding transistory harshness is the last thing in the world that Witches' Brew needed. At the risk of insulting some of you out there, if you think the Classic Records version of this album sounds good, your system must be very dull and bass shy, or you must like really hi-fi-ish sound. more Info
I've long held that the Classic Records Heavy Vinyl remaster (scandalously it's on the TAS List of Super Discs) is nothing less than a crime against music lovers and audiophiles of every stripe. Boosting the bass and highs and adding transistory harshness is the last thing in the world that Witches' Brew needed.
At the risk of insulting some of you out there, if you think the Classic Records version of this album sounds good, your system must be very dull and bass shy, or you must like really hi-fi-ish sound.
Classic Records Debunked
A Hall of Shame pressing and another Classic Records LP debunked. Classic did this title on heavy vinyl in the '90s, which is only fitting since it is one of the better Heifetz recordings. As expected, their version was awful, as bad as LSC 1903, 1992, 2129 and others too numerous to list. It's both aggessive and lacking in texture at the same time, the worst of both worlds. Bernie's cutting system is what I would call Low Resolution -- the harmonics and subtleties of the sound simply disappear. If you have the Classic, do your own shootout. We guarantee any Hot Stamper pressing will murder theirs. more Info
It's both aggessive and lacking in texture at the same time, the worst of both worlds. Bernie's cutting system is what I would call Low Resolution -- the harmonics and subtleties of the sound simply disappear. If you have the Classic, do your own shootout. We guarantee any Hot Stamper pressing will murder theirs.
A Hall of Shame pressing and another Classic Records LP debunked. As wrong as it is, I can still play the MoFi of Pictures and enjoy it. I can’t play the Classic of Pictures at all. The shrillness, the hardness, the sourness, the loss of texture to the strings, the phony boosted deep bass -- this is the kind of sound that makes my skin crawl. After a minute or two I’ve had it. And the performance by Reiner is dreadful. Harry Pearson put this record on his TAS List of Super Discs? Yes he did! more Info
As wrong as it is, I can still play the MoFi of Pictures and enjoy it. I can’t play the Classic of Pictures at all. The shrillness, the hardness, the sourness, the loss of texture to the strings, the phony boosted deep bass -- this is the kind of sound that makes my skin crawl. After a minute or two I’ve had it. And the performance by Reiner is dreadful.
Harry Pearson put this record on his TAS List of Super Discs? Yes he did!
A Hall of Shame pressing and another Classic Records LP debunked. HP put the Shaded Dog pressing (the only way it comes; there is no RCA reissue to my knowledge) on his TAS List of Super Discs, and with good reason: it's wonderful! But for some reason he also put the Classic Records Heavy Vinyl reissue on the list, and that record's not even passable, let alone wonderful. It's far too lean and modern sounding, and no original Living Stereo record would ever sound that way, thank goodness. more Info
HP put the Shaded Dog pressing (the only way it comes; there is no RCA reissue to my knowledge) on his TAS List of Super Discs, and with good reason: it's wonderful!
But for some reason he also put the Classic Records Heavy Vinyl reissue on the list, and that record's not even passable, let alone wonderful. It's far too lean and modern sounding, and no original Living Stereo record would ever sound that way, thank goodness.
A Hall of Shame pressing and another Classic Records LP debunked. The Classic reissue of LSC 1903 is a disaster: shrill, smeary and unmusical. The best Heifetz records on Classic were, if memory serves, LSC 2734 (Glazunov), LSC 2603 (Bruch) and LSC 2769 (Rozsa). They aren't nearly as offensive as the others. If you can pick one up for ten or twenty bucks, you might get your money's worth depending, I suppose, on how critically you listen to your classical records. The CDs are better for all I know. That's probably the first place to go, considering Classic's generally poor track record. more Info
The Classic reissue of LSC 1903 is a disaster: shrill, smeary and unmusical.
The best Heifetz records on Classic were, if memory serves, LSC 2734 (Glazunov), LSC 2603 (Bruch) and LSC 2769 (Rozsa). They aren't nearly as offensive as the others. If you can pick one up for ten or twenty bucks, you might get your money's worth depending, I suppose, on how critically you listen to your classical records. The CDs are better for all I know. That's probably the first place to go, considering Classic's generally poor track record.
Classic Records Reviewed
At one time we did not recommend this record but now we do! Without going into the sordid details, let''s just say this record sounds pretty good. The acoustic guitars are especially sweet and silky for a modern reissue. The sound is better than most of the pressings of Who's Next I've ever played. Clearly this is is one of the better Classic Records rock records. (It's the only Who record they've done that we carried. The others are awful.)
Finally, a PRACTICAL opportunity presents itself for our readers to partake in one of the titanic battles between Better Records and Michael Fremer, between the forces of light and the forces of darkness. (Just kidding.)You don’t need one of our admittedly expensive Hot Stamper pressings to determine who is on the right side of a disagreement between the well-known Stereophile writer (and favorite target of ours) and those of us who promote what we consider to be Better Records. more Info
You don’t need one of our admittedly expensive Hot Stamper pressings to determine who is on the right side of a disagreement between the well-known Stereophile writer (and favorite target of ours) and those of us who promote what we consider to be Better Records.
A Hall of Shame Pressing Not my idea of good sound. The only Classic Who record we carried was Who's Next, which is actually pretty good -- we gave it a B. We have quite extensive commentary on the Classic pressing of Tommy that discusses its sound relative to the other versions we've played. more Info
Not my idea of good sound. The only Classic Who record we carried was Who's Next, which is actually pretty good -- we gave it a B.
We have quite extensive commentary on the Classic pressing of Tommy that discusses its sound relative to the other versions we've played.
Classic Records 45 RPM Debunked
A customer alerted me to a review Wayne Garcia wrote about various VPI platters and the rim drive, and this is what I wrote back to him: Steve, after starting to read Wayne's take on the platters, I came across this: That mind-blowing epiphany that I hadn't quite reached with the Rim Drive/Super Platter happened within seconds after I lowered the stylus onto the "Infernal Dance" episode of Stravinsky's Firebird (45 rpm single-sided Classic Records reissue of the incomparable Dorati/LSO Mercury Living Presence recording). That is one of my half-dozen or so favorite orchestral recordings, and I have played it countless times. more Info
Steve, after starting to read Wayne's take on the platters, I came across this:
That mind-blowing epiphany that I hadn't quite reached with the Rim Drive/Super Platter happened within seconds after I lowered the stylus onto the "Infernal Dance" episode of Stravinsky's Firebird (45 rpm single-sided Classic Records reissue of the incomparable Dorati/LSO Mercury Living Presence recording). That is one of my half-dozen or so favorite orchestral recordings, and I have played it countless times.
Kills that muddy MOFI, which I must confess I used to like. Things have changed, that's for sure. The MOFI is thick and fat sounding, with much less transparency than this Classic. Check out our Heavy Vinyl Scorecard to read all about the latest winners and losers. more Info
Check out our Heavy Vinyl Scorecard to read all about the latest winners and losers.
