Do classical CDs made from early analog tapes sound better on your system than new CDs?


I find that classical CDs produced from analog recordings originally made in the late 50’s and early 60’s really make my system sing, and, by far, give me the best sound staging over most modern recordings.  This is especially true in those produced in the pre-Dolby era.  The overtones are just there in abundance and the space is endless and real.
 I’m wondering if others have that experience.
128x128rvpiano
I don’t share that experience - for me the picture is far too mixed for that. There were great recordings in the old days, but there are also great modern recordings. The problem with old recordings is the limitations of the technology (not enough headroom so a need for manual compression, higher distortion levels, tape saturation etc). The problem with modern recordings (though less so in the classical genre) are intentionally limited dynamic range (the loudness wars), excessive manipulation of the original sound in the mastering stage, and as Shadorne observes, lower budgets for classical recordings. There are quite few Youtube videos that demonstrate all this (both the limitations of old recording technologies and the evils of the modern mastering). Seeing a graph from an audio spectrum analyzer can be a sad experience.
My listening tells me that in fact the ""old technology"" was actually very good quality, I just have too many excellent sounding recordings to say otherwise. Here’s a handful of jazz labels from the 1950s thru 1960s that consistently sound terrific on CDs.
Columbia
Riverside
Prestige
Contemporary
EmArcy
Blue Note
Atlantic
There are others. The tape recorders and microphones utilized captured the numerous jazz musicians of that time period splendidly!
Charles

I don't want to freak anybody out but another variable is absolute polarity, for which there is no (repeat no) standard in the industry. CDs that are in reverse polarity often sound bland, unfocused and bass shy. Ironically, many audiophile recordings and sometimes even the entire catelogues of premier labels, according to the Polarity List compiled by the Polarity Pundit, are in reverse polarity. The Polarity Pundit concludes that 92% of all CDs are reverse polarity. Freak out! 😳
To add to Geoff's statement, there is no guarantee that every channel of a multi-track recorder in a studio was in phase with every other channel, whether because of a phase reversal in a microphone or in the recorder's electronics. Listen to the mid-to-late 1970's/early 80's recordings made at Shelter Studio in Hollywood (early Dwight Twilley and Tom Petty). Something is seriously wrong, with all kinds of unintended, swirling phase shift.
@geoffkait , @bdp24 
Excellent points regarding polarity. Often overlooked. Wish more pre-amps and integrateds came with polarity switches. 

Tom