Dvorak Symphony No. 2 Classic records excellent

I've been collecting record's from the eary stereo period since the 1980's. In my collection I have almost every LSC, SR and Blueback. Here is my observation on the reissues.

The Classic LSC's have better bass and dynamics. You can hear more information. But, many of their early reissues don't have the "golden glow" of the originals. I agree with the comments that they don't sound as rich as the originals. But, to me how important this is varies. On the Reiner Pictures LP I prefer the Classic. On Venice, LSC 2313, the core benefit of the music is the string tone. The Classic pales in comparison to the original.

As time went by the Classic's improved. Their Heifetz reissues are very good. Ein Heldenleben is much better than the VICS. As some point I think they switched to tube mastering, but whatever the reason their later releases seemed to tone down the bright string tone. My personal favorite Classic reissues are the six Mercury titles. These were amoung the last titles they did and I know they were tube mastered.

Just as Classic finally began to release a truly great product they stopped releasing new titles and only gave us 200g and 45rpm re-pressings. Truly a pity.

If you are skeptical and think Classic ruined every title, listen to their reissue of Walter's Brahms #4. It absolutely destroys the original six-eye.

Nice post, egrady... thanks.
I'm wondering what will happen, now that Chad Kassem of Acoustic Sounds wants to be the best pressing plant. Who knows what he will be releasing....

Tzh21y: The ease of finding one locally depends on where local is. I am fortunate to live in a fairly large metro area ~ 2 to 3 million that has a firm classical music base. There are ton's of classsical records here. You do have to be interprising on locating them, but it is possible. The other approach if you are not as fortunate as to where you live (from a collecting stand point), there are many dealers that that will have this from time to time. Even from a dealer, the record is less than what classic charges for the reissue. If the condition is not as advertised, the dealer will take it back.

Egrady: I agree with you post that classic got better as time went on. I did snag one last 45's available - the Ravel PC and it's better than the originals I have. I wish I had jumped on that ship before it sailed. I can only hope that Chad will will at some point in the future start the classic line up again.

On a different note, I have several of the ORG reissues of the London's. The are very good and are recommended.

What are ORG reissues?

Org is a company that has been doing reissues for a while. Go to Acoustic Sounds and type org in the search box and you'll see what they have to offer. The issues I refered to are the 45 two record sets of the famous Londons. In particular, the following are recomended: 1) Fruhbeck De Burgos - Albeniz: Suite Espanola 2) Ernest Ansermet - Falla: The Three Cornered Hat 3) Ataulfo Argenta - Espana! Volume 2. These are pricey but cheaper than the originals by a long shot. I compared these to the orginal London issues, and prefer the reissues. Can't say how they compare to the Decca issues as those are stupid expensive. One last thing, I heard the Marianne Faithfull - Strange Weather disc. Her voice was shot long ago and this record is a disgrace. Very very depressing to listen to this.