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Japanese Vinyl?

I've picked a couple of Japanese imports over the last few weeks. A couple of the reissues are really spectacular pressings of old recordings. One is a Contemporary reissued on Nippon Columbia and the other is a Savoy reissued on King.

On the other hand I picked up an original Toshiba which, while very spacious, has some distortion on the louder passages that kills it.

Which of the Japanese labels are more consistent with their quality? I've seen King/Blue Notes going pretty high on e-bay. Any advise on what I should be looking for? Also, and good sources stateside? Shipping from Tokyo is a bit pricey.
grimace
sidssp
1,077 posts
 
Grimace,
Piano is one of the most difficult instrument to reproduce on Vinyl. I believe the distortion you heard was caused by mis-tracking. It might be setup problem such as not enough VTF or dust accumulation on the needle. It is also possible that your cart is wearing out or it just simply can't track at that level.
opalchip
355 posts
 
I have some unbelievably dynamic Pro-Use Series' that reproduce piano amazingly (for example "Jun Fukamachi At Steinway" is the most dynamic piano recording I've ever heard). I don't think any compression or peak-limiting was used at all, which WILL reveal any TT/cartridge setup issues. Of course, it's also possible that if you bought the LP used and it had previously been played with a bad setup by someone else, that the more difficult passages were damaged by mistracking before.
grimace OP
624 posts
 
I think my tonearm is ok. Its an AQ PT-6 so it really only has two adjustments - VTF & skate - and I've got other piano recordings that sound fantastic. That particular record was purchased used, so it may just have some wear.

Buying vinyl is nothing if not a little hit and miss.
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