Amazing XRCD I just purchased....

Sonny Rollins, Saxophone Colossus XRCD, JVC 2002, the dynamics of sound, the instruments in the room with you feeling and yet relaxing sound. Much better (and different) than any HDCD I've heard. My other Rollins CDs now sound like I'm listening to my Dynalab FM tuner by comparison. I consider the sound improvement significant enough to call this a "good value" ($29.95 at Virgin Megastore). Until now I hated paying $16+ for CDs.

Following up on my post above, the K2's which I purchased have been great. Although I have no corresponding XRCD's to compare them to, I would say that they are sonically close to or = to the XRCD sound for a lot less money (typically $14.98 list) and therefore a bargain. But a lot of it goes back to the original recording. "Everybody Digs Bill Evans" on K2 is good but definitely not in the same league as Waltz for Debby XRCD. The Digs K2 is recorded a little on the hot side and you can hear the piano distort every once in a while. The other K2's I have (two by Miles Davis, one Coltrane, one Sonny Rollins and one Wes Montgomery) are beautifully recorded and remastered and sound very close to me to Waltz for Debby. I think you are very safe purchasing any of the K2's originally recorded by Rudy Van Gelder-they seem universally to sound very, very good.

As far as I've been able to tell, the K2s and XRCDs are using the same masters, so they ought to sound very similar. I think the distinction is mostly a marketing one. K2s you can find in any music store, and they are priced for the masses. XRCDs are available only through specialty audiophile outlets, where they can command a premium. (Now, what does that say about audiophiles?)

Well I guess I'm a cheap audiophile then! I've been loading up on K2's but still have yet to buy an XRCD. I'm pretty sure the difference is mostly price and marketing. On the other hand the difference between K2's and regular cd's is staggering. I was given a k2 of John Coltrane's "Lush Life" for xmas and already owned this on regular cd. I expected the differnce to be noticeable but subtle, it wasn't! The k2 was infinitely more transparent, dynamic, it was even a bit louder. I made sure to match levels to even the playing field, but it still wasn't even close. It's now my goal to acquire every k2 cd that's put out, luckily it's all great music too!

can anyone link me to an online source for k2 cd's? I live in Toronto and I don't know of any stores that carry them.

Thanks