Synergistic Red Fuse ...

Gk if you are truly listening to MLP recordings on a walkman and headphones, I can pretty much assure you are missing something. That might explain your opinions on MLP. I’m trying to help you out here..... :^)

Hi, Guyz ...

Its nice to see that the conversation has gotten around to the Mercury recordings. I have a nice collection both on vinyl and CD's. Here's what I've found over the years:

The best of the MLP's are truly terrific in both sound and performances. The least of them have a hardness and brightness to the sound. This just means that not all of them are great.  

The Starker cello CD's are among the best ... but there is only so much Bach solo cello that I can listen to at one sitting.   I have to be in the mood. For cello, I prefer Fred Katz playing with the Chico Hamilton Quintet:

 http://www.ebay.com/itm/CHICO-HAMILTON-QUINTET-South-Pacific-In-Hi-Fi-WORLD-PACIFIC-STEREO-1003-LP-M...

For orchestral music here is one of the all time best Mercury's. Its got the sound and the performance. Someone here should buy this one:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mercury-Living-Presence-CD-Antal-Dorati-conducts-Kodaly-and-Bartok-NM-/20161...

For the vinyl guys, if you're not aware of it ... the Mercury "Golden Imports" is a good way to go. These are the MLP's reissued on better vinyl and have better sound as a general rule than the originals ... and a lot less expensive to collect. Here's a good example:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ROMEROS-PLAY-VIVALDI-MERCURY-GOLDEN-IMPORTS-MADE-IN-NETHERLANDS-LP-NM-/40124...

And finally, again for the vinyl guys, don't pass up the Mercury mono's. They can be really amazing too. Here's a person selling a small collection of the mono's. I'm thinking of bidding on these myself ... like I really NEED  more records: 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/MERCURY-LIVING-PRESENCE-OLYMPIAN-SERIES-LOT-OF-18-CLASSICAL-LPS-VG-to-NM-NR-...

Frank

Gk, good point. My point of reference then would have to be other recordings of same genre. Still subjective based on what I have heard on other recordings.  I have not heard MLP recodings on any other sources other then my system which is computer based with Roon/Tidal and ripped CDs.

grannyring
Gk, good point. My point of reference then would have to be other recordings of same genre. Still subjective based on what I have heard on other recordings. I have not heard MLP recodings on any other sources other then my system which is computer based with Roon/Tidal and ripped CDs.

i used to be a big with a capital "b" collector of Mercury Living Presence and RCA Living Stereo LPS and have the latest Mercury box set. I sold my Mercury and RCA LP collection for around $15K quite a few years ago, after I sold my Maplenoll Limited Ed. air bearing turntable with 500 feet of air tubing and two air buffers. All tube electronics with military voltage regulators for everything. I am pretty sure I know what Mercury Living Presence recordings are SUPPOSED to sound like. Mercury and RCA recordings also sound superb on cassette, by the way, full bodied and natural. :-) Tape is a natural medium. It breathes.

Cheers

It's funny how you buy a recording due to the featured or lead musician and inevitably discover other musicians previously unknown to you.  This has happened to me on numerous occasions purchasing jazz recordings over the years.  As familiar as I am with this genre it still occurs,  obviously a reflection of the depth of talent that exists. 

The Starker and Sebok collaboration is so pleasing to me that I'm going to seek out recordings featuring Gyorgy Sebok. In doing so I'll likely discover others as well.  That's fine with me. 
Charles