Chesky RCA Living Stereo Reissues vs. Analogue Productions Reissues

The Chesky LPs are uniformly fantastic. They have a way of expressing classical music that is the closest I've ever heard to the sound you'll get from a warm sounding opera or symphony house. Too bad they've stopped making these.

The AP issues may sound a bit better than the originals, but are beset with numerous pressing issues - off center spindle holes, terribly noisy vinyl, monstrously loud pops, extreme warps. On one test LP I have, the hole was so off-center that you could hear the once around warble in the 1 KHz test tone. Just plain awful. Straight to the bin.

The only really good LP from AP that I have is Beethoven's sixth, by Bruno Walter. I don't play the rest.

London and Decca LPs of classical repertoire from the 50s through the 80s are the best bet for great sound, especially those mastered by "G" (in the dead wax portion of the LP).

@kevemaher Your experience with AP reissues somewhat mirrors mine.  I haven't had any with noisy vinyl, but many of the LPs I've purchased have been badly warped (I recently posted about it in another thread on the forum).  I've sent a lot of LPs back over the last couple of months for that reason.  I've also had several with spindle holes drilled too small. 

Curiously, I never hear anything about quality problems with QRP pressings in online reviews from the likes of Michael Fremer/The Tracking Angle, The Pressing Matters, etc.  Maybe they're receiving hand-picked promo copies 

Interesting.  This subject get personal real quick.  I rank the Phase 4 multi track records dead last sonically.  Mercury first, the RCA, who my father worked for in the early sixties, second.  All of my experience is listening to original copies.  Also, although my hearing is excellent, recently confirmed by test, I am 78 years old.  And it has been scientifically proven that our hearing is unreliable after age 30.  At least as an accurate, repeatable, reliable, scientifically reliable instrument. 

@lpluvr I think the warped records are bad luck. I’ve been ordering from Acoustic Sounds for quite some time now. Consistently good. Yes once in a while you get a defective record but you get them from every label. I’ve gotten one from Craft and one from Blue Note in just the last couple of months. Both were exchanged. 
Funny that the replacement for a warped Blue Note Cassandra Wilson came warped as well. I heard others got warped vinyl of the same album so I gave up on it. My VPI table has a screw-on clamp that helps reduce the warp. 

I find that the AP reissues of all genres are sonically very good to excellent.  I rarely get one with a warp and have never gotten one off center.  However, my complaint is that far too many of them are noisy vinyl.  Surface noise that is terrible between tracks, still very audible during quiet musical passages, and basically absent when the grooves are filled with music.  Personally, I tend to believe they are using a lesser grade of vinyl than what RTI does.  Pressings from RTI are consistently good with only an occasional album with a bit of surface noise.  I know it's not my cartridge setup.  I am very meticulous about that and use a complete suite of Wally Tools.  I can play a noisy AP album and then a very quiet album from RTI, or from other pressing plants as well.  I am very tempted to write a letter to Chad.  I want to believe that he genuinely cares.  Again, sonically excellent, but too often with unacceptable vinyl surface noise.