Any of the RCA Living Stereo lps will do, particularly ones featuring Fritz Reiner and the Chicago Symphony or Arthur Rubinstein. Mercury Living Presence lps and the Everest records cut with 35 mm film tape. Decca lps of the early stereo era, harder to get in the U.S., are also excellent. By the seventies, those labels had slipped and were working with terrible vinyl. Phillips and Deutche Grammophone then rose to the top with quiet surfaces. I always prefered Phillips, particularly Haitink conducting and Claudio Arrau and Alfred Brendel, pianists. DG had von Karajan, but they were always somewhat problematic in the bass. Early music labels such as Telefunken Die Alte Worke and Decca L’ouiseau Lyre were treasured for their repertoire, but the recordings were more hit and miss, veering towards harshness
Your Not-So-Obvious Best Fidelity LPs
I’ve spent over three years building up to the system I have now. I’m really happy with it and my wife and I love sitting in our listening room spinning various vinyl most evenings. Rather than researching and testing gear, I want to spend this year adding great recordings to our collection.
So what are the albums you have that every time you play it you're continually amazed at its fidelity? You might have spent $80 on it or just $1 or maybe it was a hand-me-down decades ago. Any genre really.
And if we can please avoid the most obvious choices (which are truly wonderful) such as Pink Floyd, The Eagles, Diana Krall, etc. I’m looking for albums, (vinyl only please) that probably fly under the radar for most folks.
I'll start….
James Taylor - Dad Loves His Work - this was just given to me by a friend a couple of weeks ago as he had an extra copy. I have plenty of JT albums but I didn’t have this one yet. As soon as I put it on I could tell it was special.
Edie Brickell - Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars - My wife requested this one so I found a NM copy on Discogs for a reasonable price. This kind of blew my socks off. Sounds really wonderful and present and the music still holds up.
Counting Crows - August and Everything After - I surprised my wife with this one as it’s one of her favorite albums. They really nailed the recording and pressing on this one. It’s quite impressive.
Ben Folds - What Matters Most - He’s one of our favorite songwriters but trying to find a copy of anything of his or Ben Folds Five for under $80 is nearly impossible. This album was released just last year and they obviously paid special attention to the recording quality. Sounds just phenomenal.
Steely Dan - Northeast Corridor - Obviously everyone knows how amazing their studio recordings are but this album might be unknown to some as it came out just a few years ago. I bought it on a whim knowing nothing about it. It’s amazing. As if they would release an album with less than stellar fidelity. If you’re a Dan fan, this album is a no-brainer.
REM - Automatic for the People - Completely hypnotic. Stunning recording.
OK, that’s enough from me.
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- 114 posts total
Thanks @mahler123 really appreciate your insights and recommendations. Time to hit Discogs to see if I can find a couple of these! looking forward to hearing from others as well…..any genre of your favorites with unbelievable fidelity. |
- 114 posts total