2. analog
  3. 1074628701

Speakers Corner QC?

We just finished opening and playing nine new Speakers Corner records.

- all nine came out of the sleeve covered with more dust than any record should see in its whole lifetime

- three or four were covered with loose vinyl shavings, one sliver is over 1" long

- three have chunks of unmelted vinyl(?) stuck to the grooves, two sound loudly and the third actually skips!

- one has a 4mm long scratch, very audible

The dealer is replacing the bad ones but it's a pain in the neck and I have to pay to mail them back. We've bought nearly a hundred Classic Records reissues and none of them had these problems. Is this normal for Speakers Corner?
dougdeacon
sbank's avatar
sbank
3,379 posts
 
Doug, did you buy them all from the same dealer? Perhaps the dealer is getting their "Seconds"?

Spencer
dougdeacon OP
3,338 posts
 
Spencer,

Hmmm... I got them all from Music Direct. Tell us what you know, please! I'm game for conspiracy theories, being ripped off, anything that will let me believe SC records really can be as good OOTB as they should be.

Does SC really sell "seconds"? The only USA distributor listed on their website is Acoustic Sounds. Would they be more likely to receive only "firsts"?
jphii
485 posts
 
Doug,

I've gotten a couple and played them on the old TT, and they sounded great. Any thing that I pay top dollar for, I tend to be more critical of. Arnold Schoenberg: Five Pieces for Orchestra Op. 16 is very well recorded. I like the MLP SC reissues. Of course the damn thing cost almost $100, so it should!

But, I don't think it is as good as Bob Dylan: Rolling Thunder Revue 1975, Classic CK-87047, but that could account for my tastes or lack thereof in music.

But, the Teres will not be set up for another 2 days. I'll let you know how they sound on it.

Joe
jfrech's avatar
jfrech
1,816 posts
 
Music Direct will take them back within 30 days if truly defective. I've had them take 2 lp's back over the last 6 months. I'm guessing at their own expense...pretty good customer service.
dougdeacon OP
3,338 posts
 
Jfrech,

I agree about MD's customer service. They've been good, it's just a pain. Of the nine I bought they're replacing the four that need to be:
- Decca 6113/Mahler #1/Solti/LSO
- Decca 325-2/Mahler#2/Solti/LSO
- Decca 385-2/Mahler #3/Solti/LSO
- Decca 6026/Bartok/Divertimento for Strings, Vivaldi/two cto's

Must be an anti-Mahler conspiracy. These recordings and pressings are excellent BTW, and Solti does Mahler really well. His #1 is definitive, IMO of course, and it's great to have such a fine recording available. We only listened to #3 last night. I'm still getting my head around it, but during the final movement I all but had a vision of Dante's Beatrice. Sublime music, sublimely played.

I strongly recommend any of these records, but play/check them carefully for flaws.
More to discover