I cracked mine open and listened to it last night. I was skeptical about paying that much for a record, but I have no regrets now. Opening it reminded me of being a little kid and opening what I knew was going to be my best Christmas present. The packaging was first class and in line with the price of the item. I was a little surprised when I went to put the vinyl on the table and saw that it was translucent. Apparently that's the new "Supervinyl" they use. I wonder if it's similar to Quiex?
The dynamics, detail, and instrument separation and overall sound quality were amazing. I kept wondering if I had turned up my subwoofers as I could not only clearly hear every note of Chris Squire's bass, but when he hit the low notes, it was visceral. The Fish shook my house to the foundation. Mood For a Day felt like Steve Howe was in my living room.
Quite simply, I've never heard better sounds come out of my system. Fragile is a record that I'm very familiar with and have listened to in a number of formats and nothing else comes close. After I finished listening, I played a song off the 96/24 version on Qobuz and while it sounded very good, it was missing the warmth, dynamics, and detail of the vinyl. Usually my streamed music sounds as good if not better than vinyl, but in this case it really wasn't close. Highly recommended.
If it seems like a lot to spend, try finding a used copy of any of the one step releases that are out of press. You won't have to sit on it very long to get your money back and then some.
