The first pressings of RCA Victor's legendary 'Shaded Dog' stereo LPs were vastly superior to later pressings, especially if the performance was not crammed into the full 30 to 33 minutes per side. Two perfect examples are the original RCA LSC-2068, the Rachmaninov Second Piano Concerto with Artur Rubinstein, Fritz Reiner and the Chicago Symphony, and RCA LSC-6149, a complete recording of Puccini's Turandot. The Rachmaninov was originally just that single concerto without its later Liszt Concerto No. 1 companion piece, and the placement of the piano and the orchestra was perfectly captured in a concert hall ambience; the opera set was superb, with characters moving about as if on stage, and absolutely no distortion, even in the loudest choral and orchestral climaxes. Why did later pressings sound so distorted and undefined?
Audiophile LP's
That title sounds pretty general but I didn't know how else to name it to attract some attention. For several decades in the production of vinyl the sound quality has widely varied due to recording process, pressing, and other factors. I remember years ago that some commonly available LP's were also available in a much higher quality (and a higher price) than the standard LP and offered superior sound quality. Can't remember all the terms to describe these records but direct-to-disk, master recording, and probably a few others I can't recall. Back then I never purchased any of those since when the needle dropped and music was there what else mattered? To buy a record at 2 or 3 times the standard price didn't make sense to anyone I knew at the time.
My question....I know that numerous sellers on the web list LP's for sell as "mastered", "audiophile", and the like. Back in the day were current sellers offering these truly superior records just trying a ripoff? If not, are most of the ones still in existence only are owned by private collectors?
My question....I know that numerous sellers on the web list LP's for sell as "mastered", "audiophile", and the like. Back in the day were current sellers offering these truly superior records just trying a ripoff? If not, are most of the ones still in existence only are owned by private collectors?