RCA Living Stereo

???

I don't know what you're used to listening to, but RCA is by far the absolute worst manufacturer I've ever heard on LP.  The sound quality is very poor, and the engineering is as bad.  Supposedly, the shaded dog LP's are better quality RCA LP's, and the white dog about the worst, as RCA's focus on quality went to zero very quickly, and shaded dog are earlier than white dog.  Supposedly, some very early RCA, which I suppose could be some of the Living Stereo LP's are the best RCA LP's, but I have found that they are very bad for the music that I listen to: classical, acoustic, etc. 

As more of a jazz aficionado and a some time classical music listener, I cannot agree that RCA are the worst among vintage LP brands. Although some recordings are not very good for sure. (I am trying now to think what brand is categorically worse than RCA. I personally always disliked Deutsche Gramophone for their shrillness, and for jazz, nothing sounds worse than Roulette.  I usually did not care for Angel recordings pressed in the USA; UK pressings were much better.) I actually like some of the Dynagroove recordings. Heifitz plays the Sibelius Violin Concerto was excellent, or so I thought. Or was it Heifitz per se who could overcome anything and blow your mind?

When Deutsche Gramophone went digital they were terrible! I pulled one out a couple months ago… horribly shrill! @lewm you are absolutely correct… before they went digital they were really good… often the standard. 
 

I remember buying albums in the late 70’s early 80’s and being really uncertain as to what was going on… it was hot or miss. 

@drbond according to Tom at Better Records, the white dog Rca Living Stereo pressing is superior in sound quality to the shaded dog Reiner Sheherazade. I tend to trust his opinion as this is what he does for a living. I’ve bought many a record from him over the years, including the above, and I can attest that he knows his stuff. According to Tom, today's Lp's do not have that "tubey magic" that yesteryears Lp's possessed. Yes, they may be quieter. But they are lifeless. The older pressings present a living breathing person. 

Also, not all Living Stereo lps were all that great (Tom will even admit that) but some were fantastic. Like any other label, there were duds.

Mercury Living Presence was also a great sounding lp/label. Most of those I own sound superior to Anything released today. Most current releases sound like utter garbage.

@audioguy85 

White dog? Shaded dog? The specific album I was speaking of is an outline in blue… no shading.

Yes, no series are all great… some duds are not unusual.