[]eep]

I watched a new video by 'poetry on plastic' this week he did on a new series of reissues of Deutsche Grammofon 'original source vinyl' all analog series that recently came out. Well, last June that is. To my delight his number one was also my most wanted. Carlos Kleibers rendition of Beethoven 7.

So, all exited with my birthday coming up I quickly went to buy this lp. ... Guess what? Sold out. Look, I don't mind 'limited editions' but what? And it wasn't even cheap. I mean, come on. This shouldn't be an elitist hobby.

So I saw some recommendations in the list and found another treasure I really wanted and where the original is even more astronomically priced Columbia SAX silver-blue label. That one is close to $1000.

Klemperer is my favorite director. And he knew Mahler. This 2lp was €40 which is a fair and decent price. The artwork is almost original, only of course the famous Columbia label has been replaced by the s#itty Warner logo. Which of course is telling for the lack of respect they have for the Originals coveted sound quality.

On the back it says
"NEWLY REMASTERED FROM ORIGINAL TAPES BY ART & SON STUDIO, ANNECY"
I think you can guess what that means. Not original analog sound quality. Oh well, I just hope I don't get digitally remastered when I turn 60 next year.

In all honesty, maybe one does not get the full analog glory benefits, but also not the negatives. No false triggers to make you 'expect' it. The is no clicks, no pops, no swoosh, no tapehiss. And still a lot of dynamic range. Instruments are very clear, no distortion, just what the instrument sounds like. I am having trouble assessing the sense of space in my newest setup with the Magnepans. [Note to self: especially without the subwoofers on. ] Ok, that's better. Low frequencies do a lot for the sense of volume of a venue.

So sound quality is very good. Recorded in 1962. Pressing on 180g is perfect. Mastering is well done (of course aided by pcm digital processing which makes things possible that all analog can't do).
The single sleeve is a bit cheap, the inners are poly lined. And I WANT THE ORIGINAL COLUMBIA LOGO ON THE SLEEVE! I hope they heard that.

So, maybe not what vinyl purist may demand, but this is certainly a viable substitute for unobtainium 'special editions' and at a fair price. Classic Classical Music should be attainable for everybody.

For reference here is the original cover (it came in 2 seperate sleeves which is sort of a nightmare for collectors finding only 1 in a stash)

 

[Quinto]

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[Quinto]

I watched a new video by 'poetry on plastic' this week he did on a new series of reissues of Deutsche Grammofon 'original source vinyl' all analog series that recently came out. Well, last June that is. To my delight his number one was also my most wanted. Carlos Kleibers rendition of Beethoven 7.

So, all exited with my birthday coming up I quickly went to buy this lp. ... Guess what? Sold out. Look, I don't mind 'limited editions' but what? And it wasn't even cheap. I mean, come on. This shouldn't be an elitist hobby.

Amazon.de has one left for 63 euros if you're interested

 

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Amazon.de has one left for 63 euros if you're interested

Huh? That's weird. I got the Mahler from Germany. Then why doesn't it show up on the Dutch Amazon? Rhetorical question... Thanks for the tip.

It says it doesn't ship to my destination and that it's in the US. So maybe that's why.

 

[]eep]

I took a dive in my collection. To see if I could find some of the originals of the Deutsche Grammofon 'original source vinyl'. I know I have the Karajan Verdi Requiem box. I listened to various versions of this Requiem and I don't like it. It pales in power comparison to Toscanini; bad recording but what a performance.

Another one I have is Stravinsky's Le Sacre du Printemps by Claudio Abbado. One of, if not my absolute favorite classical piece. I bought this myself as my first classical record. It was just after the cd was introduced and a lot of recordings were digitally remastered, as if it were a good thing. Well, it is not. It sounds horrible. It instantly convinced me that I needed to avoid LPs with digital mastering. Back then it was 16 or even 14 bits and it ruined fine recordings.

And what is worse: this is my least favorite execution of the Sacre that I have. Well, maybe I have worse €1 record club versions I picked up along the way but let's not make it a race to the bottom. And I did find an original of the sibling piece; The Firebird. I'll give it a listen soon.

Also the other recordings they chose to give this special treatment for audiophiles in limited Edition really don't appeal to me. I loathe Gilels. A so so Karajan, Abbado is meh. Except for the Carlos Kleiber Beethoven 7.

So what is my message here? Well, it's rather a question to the Deutsche Grammofon management. "WHY?" Why these recordings when you have thousands of excellent titles to choose from. Why these? Pick some of the 60-ies Deutsche Grammofon Gesellschaft SLPM Tulips range. All tube gear analog. I don't want to call it polishing a turd, because it's not that bad, but I really question their motives and reasons.

Edit: I listened to the original Firebird and the digital remastered version. The difference is immediately clear. More open and holographic with more dynamics. The digital sounds flat, congested and unappealing. On first listen you think: ok, it doesn't sound that bad. But when you put the original analog on you think "omg, this is so much better!"
I didn't even listen the digital Sacre to the end. It was becoming to sound like a chore for the orchestra. And for me.
/Edit

Here's another audiophile indiscriminate promotion video.

 

[]eep]

I just have to share this video too. Again, for people who like classical music. But if you do you can learn something here. By 'Poetry on plastic' again. He tells the same thing that I told you above about the Columbia label. And he also had the 'pleasure' of getting only one record of a set. And I kid you not, he has the exact same record I have, only disc 2! Klemperer Bruckner 7. Records like this is the reason I have a dedicated Mono cartridge.

I just wish I had the chance to get the records he shows there. I'm envious.

 

[]eep]

They say good surprises come in little boxes? Hmm. It looks very generic, very sleek.

The surprise was 'back to the future'. Since 2021 webshops that operate in Europe, like AliExpress, are required to include VAT. But it seems there's a new rule that that is only under €150. So I got an instant 21% vat discount so it needed to go through customs to declare. Like before. As it says cartridge $65 on the form, and they charged 9% VAT (that's the low tariff for foodstuffs etc, necessities. Ok, this is weird) I only payed €5+6 tariff duties.

Bureaucracy is soooo obscure and opaque. Life is like a box of choklats...

 

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Of course I couldn't wait trying it out. I had an extra headshell prepared so I mounted it on that. Pulled out the protractor, mirror and scales. The more often you do it the craftier you get. I set it on 2g and pulled out an old record first. An old Depeche Mode maxi. Ugh, that started pretty nasty. But after a few sides it started sounding better. Not just better but pretty darn good.

As you can see inside: big neodymium magnet, titanium tapered cantilever (blue color tinge), silver coils, no front yoke. The output is unproblematic 0.35V at 8 ohms. A bit of a blob of glue to fix the stylus. I think the cantilever is massive so it needs to stick on something I guess. It looks well made only it was not super clean. I had to rub of some residue to make the wood shine. But then it looked classy.

The body is anodised aluminum with a carbon fibre inlay for damping the contact area.

The potential was already showing. Very open sounding, very clear. Very wide and deep soundstage. Very good seperation of voices and instruments. I only played like, an hour. Bass need to develop more. But wow. This already sounds good. Also the stylus gets deep into the groove because it plays older records without much noise.

This is an incredibly high end cartridge for only €300. Amazing.

 

[Strayngs]

That's a really nice cart for 300

 

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I finally ordered this latest adventure with Röyksopp, Profound Mysteries deluxe boxset. It contains part 1-3 double albums plus a hefty book full of artwork. I payed €144 on Amazon since it suddenly disappeared from Juno basket. It's a lot of LPs.

I haven't played it yet but it looks awesome. Not to mention that smell of new vinyl and print work.

In case you are not familiar: Röyksopp makes nordic electronic music with guest performances for vocals. Very cool, from dance to chill out.

So, after listening 1 disc I can say: sound is very good. In short: etherial and deep. After 2 songs I'm already drifting away in space.
Mastering is really good. Pressing is good too, even though a had a bit of crackle. I didn't clean it before playing.

Very enjoyable even as nothing sticks out particularly. It's like a warm sonic bath.

 

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We've been talking about the remake of the Pink Floyds Animals remaster. I didn't care for it. To 'in my face'. Now Roger Waters did a reimagine of 'Dark side of the moon '. An album I know pretty well, but only superficially. More like music people get high on instead of paying any attention to the lyrics. Which is a shame because they are more applicable tan ever. Back then people tried to escape the 'system' by getting high. Todays escapists are zombies on the streets of Chicago, Philadelphia, LA, Frisco etc. Does anyone still pay attention to a bard? The king's jester? The protest singer? There's a song just out by a Dutch singer called (translated) "Someone has to do it". But there's no one critiquing the critics and the journalists.

Curious, I listened to the dsotm Redux on qobuz. It was like a whole new mindblowing experience. For the first time I understood what he was talking about. It took this long for anybody to land on the dark side of the moon. And it was the Chinese who did it. The more things change the more they stay the same huh? Not to mention indians on the south pole... of the moon. In 1973 you would not have believed it and thought you were joking.

So, I ordered the Redux version. It reminded me of his take on Stravinsky's 'The soldiers tale'. Which is also still evocative of our current predicament. This is Roger Waters making sure that we got it. This is him slowly narrating as an old man the actions of a young man. Interesting.

I'll give you a review when I get it. Plus some more.

 

[mystaiced]

Spinning this now. Was a flea market find. Needs some cleaning, but pretty good so far.

 

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I recently ordered a new headshell as I wasn't satisfied with what I had. And some better leads as some are really stiff and are difficult to work with. When I swapped the heavy Miyajima Zero to the other arm I only had one headshell left and the combination was this heavy that the counterweight ran off the stub. So, time for action.

So I ordered the simple AT clone headshell in gold which is light and stiff. And 3 sets of silver leads. The leads are very nice and just right in connection, length and stiffness.

One thing I realised I also had to make sure is that the distance between stylus and coupling nut needs to be constant to allow for swapping without having to adjust overhang every time. Now they are all the same 59mm head to toe.

As you can see if you look close, some of the leads are really in a knot because the length of the 2 opposing plugs is longer than the distance. And I always put a little grain of putty (or blue tack) under the headshell to improve the connection and damping. Also useful for keeping the cartridge in place while struggling with the tiny nuts and bolts.

Results: an hour later and everything is back in place. The Miyajima lost 5g and now fits fine. It pretty much plug and play. Only check tracking force. The sound is actually fine. Good enough for old mono records. Frank Sinatra sounded sublime (and I don't even like Sinatra).

However; I'm really disappointed with some of these Chinese headshells. A lot of them are not properly glued in place. The connection is wobbly and crooked. The rubber washer only makes it worse. This is exactly why I don't like detachable headshells. For Hifi the Rega and Pro-ject (and Linn) idea of a straight arm with fixed one piece integrated headshell is simply superior.

I also needed a cartridge for my old Clearaudio Performance TT, this also shows another headshells type which is both convenient and quite stiff. I have the same system on my other arms by FFYX and Acoustic Signature. Don't be fooled; this is not a Clearaudio cartridge but a modified AT95 with a paraglide stylus. Very easy to adjust. I think it took me 10 minutes.

 

[CJG888]

Aren’t the Clearaudio MMs just highly modified AT95s?

 

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Correct. Modified and selected. That can make a difference. It's a grossly underappreciated cartridge. But not as much as the tiny brother AT91 carbon. But I disliked the wood body for it. This one looks fabulous (and works). So I took the AT95 for this.

Only before I sell it I need to take out the blue paratracer stylus (I got that from England ) out and put the standard bonded elliptical in. I'm not going to throw that in for someone who doesn't appreciate it. It's about a $120. Plus the nerve-wracking cutting the plastic body off.