How are the Classical music XRCDs?

I think they are all very good. They appear to be the old Mercury recordings remastered. At times a few of them may sound a bit in your face, but I overlook that because I really like the majority of the sonics and certainly love the performances.

Call Bob at Elusive Disc, he usually has a pretty good deal on them if you spend $200 or over.

They're superb, easily better than the RCA Living Stereo versions--fuller and richer.

I recently bought two Reiner recordings that I also own as Living Stereo CD's and original vinyl. The detail and clarity of the XCRD's is incredible.

I have most of the RCA-derived XRCD2's, and they are a significant improvement over their conventional CD counterparts. The best ones are the Reiner Bartok Concerto for Orchestra (just breathtaking), the Reiner Respighi (much smoother and fuller than the Living Stereo CD), and the Reiner 'Iberia' (which, BTW, has no Living Stereo equivalant--the XRCD2 blows the older CD issue away completely).