What are the best sounding classical CDs

Sorry sugarbrie .. I didn't see your later post.

DG is a strange label. Usually good performances (in my limited-knowledge-opinion), usually bad sound (to my ears, on my system).

The reason I like Decca so much is they seem to get the perfect balance between reproducing the reverb/ringing of a large concert hall, without overdoing it and letting the sound becoming too much of a mush from all the ringing.

DG seems to have very very dead acoustics .. almost like it was recorded in an anechoic chamber. Perhaps that's the German taste ?

I agree with many of the observations regarding DG CDs, but I look at my CD collection, and a fairly high percentage of the recordings are on DG. If you listen to more modern classical music, you will find that there is very often only one recording of a piece, and that it is on the DG label. That said, quite a few of the 20/21 recordings that have come out recently on DG have excellent sound.

Quite a few recent EMI recordings (especially the BSO recordings) have excellent sound, as well.

And, of course, as has been mentioned, anything on Reference Recordings is always top-caliber.

Seantaylor, just kidding. I was just having some fun with the "noone" as a one syllable word. From some reading I have done, Decca has some great engineers in London in the 40s through the 60s who really cared about quality and accuracy. I agree with you about the balanced sound. I have bought quite a few "Legends" and the earlier "The Classic Sound" solely based on the label, and have not been disapointed. Who ever is putting together the series; they are making some great choices, and have the same level of care as the original engineers who made the recordings.

Phillips has put together quite a few historic recording that sell as 2 CD sets for the single price. There are quite a few good ones in there, especially the chamber music.

The Mercury Living Presence Label is back on CD. As many viny-philes know, the MLP recordings are some of the best ever made. Judicious care was taken in the recording process, including using a single pair of Neumann tube powered mikes(no multi-miking garbage), recorded to 35mm high speed recording tape, and even the groove spacing on the LPs was variable based on the dynamics of the passage. The recordings capture the imaging beautifully, due to the proper miking, and the hall in which the performance took place is well captured. Perspective, space, proportion, depth, tonality, dynamics, and detail are all there - miked from the listener's point of view just slightly above the audience. These are well worth a listen if you like accurate presentation of your classical music as I do.

Thanks guys! I have ordered some of your suggestions. They should be arriving soon.