@roxy1927
Don't worry being shredded, at least not by me. The reason these Jubilee's generally sound great is because Decca used the same quality level (metalwork as well as cutting engineers) for these budget pressings as they did for the original full price SXL/CS and midprice Ace of Diamonds SDD issues.
The only possible downgrade might be that the stampers had been used before or they made new stampers from lacquers that had previously been used for the earlier pressings. This can eventually result in reduced dynamics and perhaps a bit more surface noise.
There is at least one Jubilee on the TAS list for top level sonics and commands top prices (around $100). This is a recording of the Prokofiev Violin concertos by Ricci and Ansermet (ECS 746). Ironically it is one of those titles that was never issued on SXL in the UK, although it was released in mono (Decca LXT 5446). It was originally released in stereo in 1959 on London CS 6059, which makes it the first stereo UK pressing (with 1K/1E matrix).
For the Jubilee reissue brand new lacquers were cut by Ted Burkett (mister G). I've never heard it, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if it sounds better than the original CS. All of this goes to show you that there are no strict rules in this game. So buy and enjoy your Jubilees without reservation (and save yourself a lot of money).
Don't worry being shredded, at least not by me. The reason these Jubilee's generally sound great is because Decca used the same quality level (metalwork as well as cutting engineers) for these budget pressings as they did for the original full price SXL/CS and midprice Ace of Diamonds SDD issues.
The only possible downgrade might be that the stampers had been used before or they made new stampers from lacquers that had previously been used for the earlier pressings. This can eventually result in reduced dynamics and perhaps a bit more surface noise.
There is at least one Jubilee on the TAS list for top level sonics and commands top prices (around $100). This is a recording of the Prokofiev Violin concertos by Ricci and Ansermet (ECS 746). Ironically it is one of those titles that was never issued on SXL in the UK, although it was released in mono (Decca LXT 5446). It was originally released in stereo in 1959 on London CS 6059, which makes it the first stereo UK pressing (with 1K/1E matrix).
For the Jubilee reissue brand new lacquers were cut by Ted Burkett (mister G). I've never heard it, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if it sounds better than the original CS. All of this goes to show you that there are no strict rules in this game. So buy and enjoy your Jubilees without reservation (and save yourself a lot of money).