Best sounding Beethoven symphony LPs

Wow. Overlooked that the request was for LP's. You can ignore most of the stuff I recommended. Some would be hard to find, some impossible because it started life as a CD. Am I blind or what! :-(

The only consolation is that I wasn't the only one. :-)

Well I have some recommendations for complete boxed sets, but right up-front, I like my Beethoven clean, clear lined, and energized. I'm not up to deep, 'brooding' Beethoven.

Harnoncourt's set which blends the efect of the HIP but uses modern instruments. Scrubbed from the over orchestrated performances that were so common for so many years and are still highly regarded.

Bernsteins set - despite his general reputation for overblown distorted interpertations of a lot of music, in this set he gets the 'beat' - it is uplifting and energized. He did a similar set of the Schumann Symphonies with the same result. Whoda guessed. :-)

Vanska recent performances - a complete set of performances but not in a box set yet. You have to buy them individually. Excellent sound, SACD if you care, straight ahead performances. BTW I like them best with the volume up a bit.

Wand's set on RCA. Very tradition 'Germanic' performances.

I agree with Rushton, the best Beethoven is not found in sets. And as he has already recommended, BUY the Kleiber 5th! There is no other like it, IMHO.