Re-issue vinyl vs. the original pressing

Arthur Salvatore is only one person and certainly entitled to his opinions. Many will disagree with him on this and other issues particularly his love affair with a manufacturer/friend whose speakers and cables appear in disproportionate articles/reviews on Arthur's website.

However, his feud with Michael Fremer and the letter/email exchanges printed on the website, are worth the price of admission alone.

Thouigh I love to read the Salvatore web pages.He is not the last word in reference recordings.I think he,like me,tends to be a bit controversial.Which in his case,keeps his web-site very interesting.In my case,it does not work,so well.
As to the re-issue vs originals.....The re-issues are superb,mostly,and should be purchased when price is important.BUT....Salvatore is not correct in his impressions(maybe on his own system,actually)of quite a few of his reference discs.In MANY cases the "early" pressings(English)are considerably more lifelike(timbres/harmonics)to the re-issues,and later(Dutch....."you have to be kidding")pressings.Deccas in this case.Though the best Mercury(Really early,plum labels)KILL the re-issues.
I have many very well heeled "collector/former reviewer" friends,who actually laugh at some of Salvator's comments,regarding the superiority of the Dutch(Deccas),or some of the Re-issues!
I own the Dutch,and English pressings(First edition)of The Prince of the Pagodas,and the British pressings is clearly the superior.Salvatore "waxes poetic" over the Dutch,which is just not true.We have compared many of his choices to the originals,and re-issues he likes,and have come to the conclusion that his system surely must be in need of a second look/listen!I think many hobbyists should consider getting the record lists of guys like Jerry Cantor(A Classical Collector....the name of his list)instead of E-Bay stuff.You get quiet/clean originals from guys like him,and the "beauty" of good originals may become more obvious.
That being said,I LOVE Salvatore,and read his site regularly,as all should.

Salvatore's comments are mainly directed to classical reissues. He says in the text that:

"The original pressings of Rock, Pop and Jazz LPs are almost always preferable to the vast majority of their respective reissues."

I can certainly vouch for that in my experience. I listen mostly to jazz from the 1950's and 60's, and original pressings can sound much better than reissues including the latest reissues by Classic and other labels. Unfortunately, it can be difficult to locate the original pressings in good condition. They are all too often damaged from excessive playing.

For my tastes, I would rather listen to an older copy with a few ticks and pops and a little distortion in the inner grooves than a pristine quiet reissue where the magic has been scrubbed out along with the noise.

Example: I have a stereo 6-eye Sketches of Spain (Miles Davis) that sounds excellent despite a bit of noise and distortion on peaks. I bought a reissue on an audiophile label (I forget which one) and it's quiet and clean, but it doesn't have the natural tonality and coherency of the original.

Another example: One of the very best sounding records I have is an old Mono copy of the The Jazztet. It is one of most dynamic and exciting recordings of a jazz combo ever---rich, warm and vibrant. I ran across a reissue from the 70's in stereo. The newer pressing is cleaner and quieter, but the music isn't nearly as lifelike. It's like the difference between a high quality tube preamp and a cheap transistor unit from the 1970's. In fact, that may be the explanation on the Jazztet---the original pressing was mastered using all tube equipment, and the reissue probably went through some early generation transistor gear.

Dave

Everybody on the pro-original side is taking only the best examples. When it comes to jazz for instance, plenty of good music was released on labels like Prestige, Atlantic and EmArcy that didn't have very good sound, but has been improved in reissues. Blue Notes, Columbias and RCAs on the other hand more often sounded just fine. Same deal for rock and pop on labels like Capitol and Imperial -- a lot of that original mastering was just bad. Some stuff was great. It all depends on the particular example and generalizations are of limited usefulness. But if you're only going to discuss the most audiophile-approved old examples, then of course you're going to come to the conclusion that remasters are usually not as good. And throwing budget-line, no-remaster reissues from the 70's into the equation just muddies the waters. The other thing, of course, that's limiting this discussion is the insistence on vinyl for the reissue. Personally I'd much rather own a high quality remastering on CD than a repressing of questionable provenance on vinyl. There's a lot of reissue vinyl out there, especially of classic rock, soul and jazz, that is simply a scam. If someone insists on buying new vinyl not made by a reputable reissue house, just because it's vinyl, they pretty well get what they deserve IMO.

Umm, short answer.. Some re-issues will blow the doors of the originals, and some originals were so good that most re-issues that cost 12 bucks will not be better and most of the time could be worse.

I have got a hold of some Simply vinyl, 180, 160, and 200 gram re-issues, they are mostly superior to original pressed.. this is mostly in 70's, 80's, and 90's Rock.. so this comment is not a general statement about all the audiophile norms of the Jazz and Classical stuff.

I still have not figured out why I have bought mobile fidelity stuff that Was horrible compared to a mint condition original? Not yet have a used a mobile fidelity album I liked, most were compressed, and the original just sounded dam near perfect and good.. Again this is For mostly Rock stuff.. Oh and I have Parlaphone I think is the name Beatles albums, Bought them new, and they are Killer!! But never heard a mint original of any of these, but did have a slightly worn original copy of Magical mystery tour (Apple maybe?) and the New Issue was Far, FAR superior, with way Better Db Gain and Bass was as rock solid as the best CD's.. So its a toss up, get a Dud try another version is the unfortunate fate Vinyl-philes are subject too.