There are those who claim there is no such thing as audio memory, that we cannot exactly recall some song or album we heard for comparison purposes when auditioning components. I disagree - how many of us seniors have played certain albums back in the day so many times we recall every bit of them right down to the symbol splashes and vocalist’s moans?
For me, there are at least a dozen or two classic albums that fit this category but it was brought to the forefront by a recent Japanese boot release of needledrops of 1st US pressings of the first 4 Led Zeppelin albums. Their sound immediately brought back memories of those original US pressings, long gone from my collection, but unequivocally sounding "right" through my Oppo/Hafler/Maggie system. If I were auditioning cables or even components, I doubt I'd have a problem comparing those sounds with these cds choosing between them.
For me, there are at least a dozen or two classic albums that fit this category but it was brought to the forefront by a recent Japanese boot release of needledrops of 1st US pressings of the first 4 Led Zeppelin albums. Their sound immediately brought back memories of those original US pressings, long gone from my collection, but unequivocally sounding "right" through my Oppo/Hafler/Maggie system. If I were auditioning cables or even components, I doubt I'd have a problem comparing those sounds with these cds choosing between them.