Classical Audiophiles Rejoice!

I wish you could hear Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra on 45 rpm vinyl...

As do I. I wish that you could've heard Cleveland play it at Severance Hall three or four years ago. Truly a fine performance! I'm not particularly interested in debating the finer points of vinyl vs. cd, since I don't have the time, money, inkling or need to purchase anything on vinyl. Unfortunately for me, the music is actually more important than the hi-fi. Although I have spent what, for me (and for my wife), is a tremendous amount of money on my system, I really enjoy the music too much to worry about investing in vinyl. I've listened to the most recently released pieces of music by one of my favorite living composers, Mark-Anthony Turnage, as they are released. I doubt that it would be easy to find such recordings on vinyl. Even harder for me to listen to them, since the only turntable I own is an old Pioneer from the mid-'70s, and it's in storage. I appreciate your love of vinyl, but I am very satisfied with the ability to easily find any recording that I wish immediately on CD. The Meridian player that I own has given me a great amount of satisfaction with CDs. The enjoyment of music is why I don't particularly mind buying a Naxos CD that sounds like it was recorded from under a dozen wet towels. As long as the music is good, who cares?! I admit that I love the excitement of high-end audio and the experience of a great recording (try any of the recordings on the RR label), but that isn't what ultimately does it for me (This isn't to say, of course, that I am willing to go back to the pathetic Jensen speakers that I owned in college.).

Kurtisjeffers, the posting does say, (I quote) "Some of the RCA remasters from late 1950s are better than any recordings made today! Any other comments on this subject.......". I think Carl did just that. The recording he is speaking of is from that era, and is an excellent performance. I understand why you prefer CD, and I certainly understand why you prefer a performance at Severance Hall, but this is not only a music site, but an audiophile site as well. The comments concerning format are generally passionate, as this is the next most important thing, aside from the performance itself. So if someone here wants the same quality performance as you, but prefers a format that they believe is superior, it is not wrong. In a sense it is an attempt to share. Much like the postings that perhaps claim that the Black Crows are better than anything classical or maybe that Bartok is superior to Ray Charles.

Kurtis, it is good to hear that you appreciate fine music, and I apologize for offending your software sensibilities regarding vinyl. For what it's worth, I too enjoy CD playback, have many RR and Naxos titles. So perhaps you assume too much in that area. Look, I'm happy that you've spent so much money, and that you have a decent CD player. Mine is perhaps better, and yes, I agree that it is good to be able to buy any title you might want in whatever format you want. Unfortunately, you can NOT buy every title you want in a SINGLE format. And as far as the reissues Albert and I are speaking of goes, you need to educate yourself more, before you speak out about them................And Albert, thanks again for shedding light in this area. Also, very thoughtful of you to point out that I was merely responding to Megasam's suggestion, afterall.

Guys, although you are correct RCA vinyl from late 50s, especially Reiner/Chicago, is fabulous, I was refering to RCA "living Stereo" CD remasters from that period which are also mainly Reiner/Chicago and some sound as good as any classical CD orchestra recordings made today using current state of the art recording techniques. Unfortunately only limited selection currently available. Kurtis that Berkshire CD site has tons of smaller label catalogs at really low Naxos range prices, I'm sure many of them are quite well recorded.....so many CDs, so little time. And regarding the CD/Vinyl format comparisons, the single most important advantage CD has which I never hear anyone mention is the ability to program tracks. I can think of very few albums where I want to hear all tracks, CD allows programing of tracks, eliminates flipping over record, don't have to clean record each time to play etc. My Linn LP12 front end became too much work, and although it had qualities I miss, I went digital now I have more time to relax and enjoy the music...regards Sam