[bosiemoncrieff]

The Barenboim was my first, and while lovely, I'm not sure it stands out in the crowd. Bartoli excepted.

 

[czrtly]

 

  The Giulini Figaro is the classic, though the Erich Kleiber (also a classic tbh), Colin Davis, Karl Bohm, John Eliot Gardiner, Rene Jacobs, and Nikolaus Harnoncourt all produce excellent readings.
 
Teodor Currentzis recently recorded the opera in Russia, and it's done with such verve that it has to be my current favorite.

I have a soft spot in my heart for Jimmy Levine's/Met/te Kanawa/Upshaw version.  With ladies like that, the men almost don't matter, but they are quite servicable. 
 
Dawn Upshaw on Gorecki's Third is so moving, it inspires me to keep building audio gear.  It is QC on everything I build.

No way! So that's why it sounds so sublime on the Bimby!!! Saw that symphony played live once, so moving, maybe that was the tipping point for me in the quest of looking for music and how it gets reproduced. Though nothing is like a live performance, playing that cd is always an experience; a humble Bimby really puts a stage, a singer and all that music in my tiny room, thanks for that!
 
A. Rivas

 

[Armaegis]

  "silver cables with yak spooge cores."
 
So I can find these On Audioadvisor?

 
You might be able to find some platinum plated silver wire on aliexpress...

 

[bosiemoncrieff]

I need my cables coated with Rheingold imported from Germany. No knock off chinese gold.

 

[dmckean44]

  "silver cables with yak spooge cores."
 
So I can find these On Audioadvisor?

I think they're a Mapleshade product. Be sure to mind the directional arrows printed on the sheilding, these cables sound like yak scrotum when installed backwards.

 

[US Blues]

  I need my cables coated with Rheingold imported from Germany. No knock off chinese gold.

This Rheingold sounds better!
 

 

[sam6550a]

Some one remembers the Brooklyn breweries! ! can remember Rheingold jingles set to Franz Lehar tunes, as in "My beer is Rheingold the dry beer, think of Rheingold whenever you buy beer---". Boy, that was alooooong time ago.

 

[spkalka]

  The Giulini Figaro is the classic, though the Erich Kleiber (also a classic tbh), Colin Davis, Karl Bohm, John Eliot Gardiner, Rene Jacobs, and Nikolaus Harnoncourt all produce excellent readings.
 
Teodor Currentzis recently recorded the opera in Russia, and it's done with such verve that it has to be my current favorite.

I first heard about Currentzis on NPR and was intrigued by his approach of not using known "stars" and trying to preserve the originally intended sound (or his idea of that). I own his "Cosi fan Tutte" recording and find it superb.

 

[AndreYew]

For a different Figaro, try René Jacobs's on Harmonia Mundi. The singing is excellent as is the recording quality.
 
Here's a little snippet. Those rolled Rs kill me!
 

 

[r2muchstuff]

 
This Rheingold sounds better!
 

Remember this?

 
Had my first New York Strip steak in the restaurant, then the fireworks.  Great family memories.
 

 

[franzdom]

I like to keep my cables cryogenically frozen during use. It helps isolate environmental resonance and warms up the mid-fronts without introducing sibilance. 
 
The only problem is the room is to cold to stay in for long 

 

 

[US Blues]

 

 
This Rheingold sounds better!
 

Remember this?

 
Had my first New York Strip steak in the restaurant, then the fireworks.  Great family memories.
 

I went to the World Fair several times, but my folks thought it best that I not indulge in Rheingold at ages 4 & 5!

 

[r2muchstuff]

No beer for me, just a "big boy meal"

 

[Bunbury]

  For a different Figaro, try René Jacobs's on Harmonia Mundi. The singing is excellent as is the recording quality.
 
Here's a little snippet. Those rolled Rs kill me!
 

There goes my morning productivity ... 
 
At first I was surprised by the relatively high speed of the ouverture, but then I got immersed in the quality. The voices and orchestra are all outstanding, excellently recorded, and well mastered. It made me muse on a few things:
 
1) The quality confirms that within the audio chain, the most important contributors to quality are the artists and their engineers. A bad recording remains a bad recording, whatever equipment you torture it with. An outstanding recording can captivate, even if played through relatively pedestrian sound systems. The result of this, is that I don't cringe, like I do with some great historic performances that did not receive the same mastering quality. I have difficulty enjoying music when the master is below modern standards, even if the performance is excellent. It's a curse!
2) Studio recordings of operas can sound amazing. I previously was of the opinion live recordings are the only way to get the true opera sound, with spatiality of orchestra vs voices, and some nice reverb recorded as experienced. But the quality of this studio recording, and how its mix and mastering positions everything nicely, while offering great clarity, is making me change my mind. It also strikes me as a paradox, as we strive for realistic playback, while the imaging and spatiality are in reality imaginary, composed on an engineer's console.
 
Thanks for the tip! I truly am enjoying this. "Se vuol ballare, signor Contino ..."

 

[johnjen]

I have a question for Mike, if I might.
 
Seeing as how you love the Decca cart (and I understand why) and it isn't center tapped, how far out of 'balance' are the L&R signals?
Or is this even measurable?
 
IOW if the output signal is 'biased' towards one pole or the other how much offset can there be?
 
I ask because my curiosity got triggered.
 
Thanks     JJ