Whats on your turntable tonight?

Szell conducts Barber - Piano Concerto w/John Browning & Schuman - A Song of Orpheus w/Leonard Rose, cellist. The Cleveland Orchestra. Columbia Masterworks, original 1964, reissue, probably early 70’s.

Fantastic piano recording/reproduction. Always tough with an orchestra.

On the 401.

I hope it feels better now

@uberwaltz

I have only heard good things on Andy Kim and all reports said his turnaround time was a lot faster than Soundsmith.

One of the used Zephyrs that I was inquiring about, the one which Peter just rebuilt, the seller stated Peter had it for 2 months!! Turned out to be a low-output after he double-checked with Peter, and I wanted a high-output. Anyway, I got the new MK III for the same amount.

But, yea, per the above, Soundsmith sounds to be very slow right now.

@uberwaltz 

Worth getting retipped?

I did play 2 albums on the 401 last night so it would quit sulking 😇

Now the Rega is pouting.....

😁 This is what happens when you have too many children

The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Box set of 4 LP’s. The Classic Record Library 1975.

I know I’ve spoken about this set before. It was a ‘book of the month club’ set I picked up for really cheap on eBay, in pristine condition. To my surprise then, and still, it is really good. Love how it was recorded, very nicely, but ‘raw’., i.e. You feel like you are in the studio with the musicians. Great soundstage, imaging, ‘air’, etc. A real gem, ‘who’d a thunk it’ kind of thing.

Anyway, it sounded great on the ol Pro-Ject, but man does it sound marvelous on the SOTA/Jelco/Soundsmith combo. I ended up playing all 4 LP’s.

@drrsutliff 

Agreed. Hate to lose a company like that. I also heard the same. 

@nicks25 

Beatles - Help!, Rubber Soul

+1 Rubber Soul is a favorite of mine. Then to come....Revolver. But Rubber Soul foretold where the Beatles were heading, quickly.

@drrsutliff 

Yep, good point. Fiddling today, I realized VTA doesn’t make a huge difference, so just adjusted it where the Soundsmith sounds best (which I’m still playing with).

The more I listen, the more impressed I am with the 2M.

Ortofon 2M Mono came today. Mounted it on an extra headshell. Added weight to get it close to the Soundsmith cart/shell. And tried it out. I received some nice mono LP’s from @slaw , chose a couple, but settled on ‘Music for Organ and Brass’ from 1959.

Yep, after then trying the same LP with the Soundsmith, then switching back again, I now understand how much more a mono cart/set-up provides. The Soundsmith sounded thin, and overall lacking in depth in comparison, (probably the only time I can say that about the Zephyr). The Ortofon mono put everything back in order. Full sound, a lot of ‘grunt’ with the organs, deep soundstage, even width was apparent. Just sounds ‘right’.

I was really wondering how much better the mono cart would be, and it is petty significant.

A bit of a pain as the weight tacking differences has to be recalibrated with each - using a single table - but really, well worth it. And as my scale is always at the ready, not a big deal.

Szell conducts Brahms Piano Concerto #2. The Cleveland Orchestra w/Leon Fleisher. Epic 1962 mono

Almost hard to believe this is a mono recording.

Ormandy and The Philadelphia Orchestra. - Afternoon of a Faun. Debussy: Afternoon of a Faun & Nocturnes. Ravel: Daphnis and Chloe, Suite No. 2. Columbia Masterworks 1956 mono

Canned Heat - Hallelujah. Liberty 1970

Looks great Jim 👍🏼

+1 big_greg

Kletzki conducts Mahler Symphony No.1. The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. Angel, late 70’s release per label design.

Karajan conducts Tchaikovsky - Swan Lake & The Sleeping Beauty. Deutsche Grammophon 1972 Italian pressing

Zubin Mehta  conducts Saint-Saens Symphony #3. The Los Angels Philharmonic Orchestra. London 1971

lol @tomic

Dohnanyi conducts Stravinsky- The Firebird. Vienna Philharmonic. London 1980

Casals play Schubert. String Quartet in C Major, Op.163, recorded live @ the Casals Festival, Prades. Tunabout 1971

Really like this recording. And the new rig really does help to ‘put you there’.

Welcome home @uberwaltz

Glad to hear you are enjoying that arm. Amazing the arm made a significant difference. You indicated it didn’t have the ‘grunt’ of the Garrard prior. Doe the new arm improve upon that?

BTW, you might have missed it, but I am very pleased with the Ortofon 2M Mono cart.

@noromance 

@bkeske Saw Paul Simon perform Graceland in London. Astonishing.

Yea, not the biggest fan, but remember when that album came out, the accolades it received, and had to get it. It is a real treat sonically and musically. Just sounds wonderful. I'm sure that performance live would have been outstanding as well.

Dylan - Blond on Blond. Columbia reissue 1972

Leo Kottke – 12 String Blues. Oblivion 1969

Have had this for years, bough it cheap used, and now turns out to be somewhat a collectors album and worth many times what I paid. Recorded live at The Scholar Coffeehouse, Minneapolis MN

John McLaughlin and Mahavishnu - Adventures in Radioland. Relativity 1986

Breaking open one of my wonderful Decca Solti-Edition box sets. Vol. 6. Was in the mood for some choir works on this Friday.

Starting at the beginning with Beethoven’s Missa solemnis in D major, Op. 123. Sides 1-4. Will probably listen to more.

This never sounded so good. I’m so pleased with this new rig.

@slaw 

Leonard Cohen "Thanks For the Dance" arrived today.

Steve, would love to know what you think. That set has been on my list ‘to buy’ for quite some time. 

Horowitz plays Schumann - solo piano - Variations On A Theme By Clara Wieck & Kreisleriana. Columbia Masterworks 1970

More from the Solti-Edition box set #6. Sides 5-8

Verdi - Missa Da Requiem

Wiener Philharmonic and Choir, 1970

Andre Previn conducts Rachmaninoff Piano Concertos 1 & 4. Leonard Pennario and The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. RCA Victor Red Seal. Originally released 1965, reissue, late 60’s per label design.

Reiner conducts Brahms Violin Concerto in D. Heifetz w/Chicago Symphony Orchestra. RCA Victor, Canadian pressing. Release date unknown. ‘Shaded Dog’ stereo label.

Wow. Nice. Big. Stage.

Yes indeed 😁

Had a couple new headshells arrive today, with weights, so I could mount my Ortofon Mono cart, and essentially be the same weight as my Soundsmith in its shell. Well, guessed right, and they are now both almost the exact same weight. So, makes swaping the heads much easier.

Thus, now that the Mono cart is installed, figured I would play some mono LP’s

—- George Little conducts the Montreal Bach Choir - Music of the Spanish Renaissance. VOX 1962 mono

Interestingly, this was mastered by Rudy Van Gelder.

@slaw

Thanks man. I should see if it is on Tidal. 

I’m just so smitten with my turntable right now, none of my digital sources, including CD’s, seem ‘up to par’ in comparison.😁

Leonard is alway a bit like listening to poetry. One of the reasons I like ‘Songs of Love and Hate’ so much is it has a fair amount of accompanying music and singers along with his ‘singing’.

lol Jim. You mean it has its own hole? Just what I need, two of’m

@tomic601

Just to let you know, I picked up that Reiner Scheherazade album last night on Discogs, but got the original Living Stereo pressing from 1960. 

That darn album gets high praise, so looking forward to receiving it. Hopefully it is actually in ‘VG’ condition as advertised. But, for $12 it may be a steal at that. Even the old pressings go for a pretty high price.

Todd Rundgren - Something/Anything. Rhino/Bearsville reissue/remaster 2LP Set, 1987, originally 1972

Claudio Arrau plays Debussy - Images and Estampes. Piano sonata. Phillips, Netherlands pressing 1980

I do have a collection of effigy's I will admit, MC, GK, DT......

😂😂😂

Just arrived home, and Santa was here and left this at the door….

David Crosby - If I Could Only Remember My Name. Atlantic reissue/remaster 50th anniversary 2021. Originally 1971

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas/Holidays

@uberwaltz

Do you have any Blu Tac?
Might be worth a shot seeing if that works better than ME.

I use an Onzow, but know Peter isn’t a fan on Soundsmith (or any) carts/stylus. He uses Blu Tac, after every play, and swears by it. I’ve been thinking of switching/trying it out.

Or, Jim has an idea

4.) Voodoo exorcism

Neil Young - S/T. Reprise reissue 1970, originally 1969

I use blu-tac after every side, Lyra every now and then. 

Just ordered some. Going to try it out myself.

Herbert Blomstedt conducts Nielsen - The Symphonies of Carl Nielsen, Album 1 : Symphonies No. 1, 2, 3 & Andante Lamentoso (At The Bier Of A Young Artist) / Bohemian-Danish Folk Melody / Helios Overture, Op. 17. Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra. Seraphim 3LP box, 1975
 

@slaw 

Eels "The Cautionary Tales of Mark Oliver Everett"

Was just looking to buy this on CD (for $7), and you have it on vinyl. Not fair 😁

I’m not one to buy expensive new vinyl of releases/reissues I would like, yet, but I guess it’s all part of the rabbit hole I jumped into......

I can see it happening now. In fact, was checking out some new classical vinyl releases over the last could days.

Yep, I could kick myself now, but I traded in many vinyl selections to get money to spend on CD’s. Luckily I kept the vinyl that meant most to me. But, I now realize some of that vinyl I traded in is now hard to impossible to replace. 

I kept a Siouxsie and The Banshees vinyl album (not sure how that didn’t get traded at the time) and hard to believe what that is worth now. And I bought it used for $1.

The Beatles - Meet the Beatles. Capitol reissue 1966

Yes, the same album I had as a child 😉

Gotta say, after a couple good cleanings, it sounds pretty darn good too.