MoFi v/s UHQR

Oops, not 15kHz, but rather 15K ohms. The Deccas (and to a lesser extent the Londons) can benefit from a lower than standard 47K ohms input impedance, and a little extra capacitance.

In the late-1980’s I was graced with a phone call from Decca uber-enthusiast (and New York Audio Labs owner, as well as a very entertaining hi-fi writer) Harvey Rosenberg, in which he shared with me a lot of his wisdom regarding the idiosyncratic nature of the Decca design. At that time the changes made when John Wright took over management of the company (and changed the name to London) had yet to transpire, and sample-to-sample variability was notoriously inconsistent. Harvey advised me to load Deccas with an input impedance of anywhere from 10K ohms and up, and 200-300 pF of capacitance.

That variability was greatly reduced by John Wright, and London’s were made to a significantly higher standard than were the Deccas. John Wright retired a coupla years back, and the new owners are working on getting the company’s products back into production. I am very happy to already own a London Super Gold (with Decapod mounting system and Line Contact stylus) and a London Reference, neither of which would I sell at any price.

I have loved the 2 Van Halen releases of 1 step, but been really disappointed by both Hotel California (great packaging, flawless silent vinyl, but sibilant and bright) which is not in the same league as my 2009 pressing that is the best pressing I’ve ever heard, and Stevie Ray Vaughn Texas Flood, which I thought was lifeless compared to other newer pressings.  I won’t buy the MOFI One Steps anymore.  They pale to me in comparison to the UHQR’s from Acoustic Sounds, and the Rhino High Fidelity pressings.  The numbered Rhino pressing of Black Sabbath is the best sounding album I’ve ever heard, and I’m not even much of a Sabbath fan.

OMG!!! One of my all time favorite album on UHQR. 

https://store.acousticsounds.com/d/184580/The_Doors-LA_Woman-UHQR_Vinyl_Record

^^^Nope. 

Already own the AP 45 versions of the entire Doors catalog, and they sound mighty fine.  As I recall, they were $40 or $45 each upon their initial release back in 2012.  

Don’t make the mistake I just made when looking at the link for the Analogue Productions reissue of La Woman, posted by lalitk above. I initially thought I have this AP disc, what’s the big deal? I then reread the information about this new UHQR disc and realized this is a very special reissue of the recording, limited to 4,500 disc, mastered by Bernie Grundman from the original analog master tapes. Also pressed with extreme care, top quality vinyl and hand inspected for quality. No wonder this is a $125 disc (+tax and shipping). And yes, I have ordered the disc! Can’t wait to hear it. palasr, you appear to have made the same mistake I made when commenting on this AP reissue.