Can we go back to 33's please?


Yes, I know we have a million records cut at 33.3, but now, I guess in an attempt to have a "super premium" image, some lables are cutting reissues at 45 rpm. I know Levinson did it way back - I have those and they sound great. The only thing is, I have many 33s that also sound great. I really don't feel like hassling with cleaning and storing 2 discs for each album and getting up every 10 minutes to change sides. I really think equal or at least almost equal quality can be achieved on 33. Listen to anything on Stockfisch, Opus3, Tacet, Naim. They do a great job with it. Not to mention many older RCA Red Seals and such. Is there anyone here who believes that 45 has the magic 33 lacks - all things equal?

Maybe it's my system - Linn, Rega RB700, Argo, is not capable of ferreting out the nuances of some other tables? Perhaps you folks with Caliburns believe 45s are the way to go? If not - tell the record companies and they might listen. I don't want to get up every 10 minutes. Sorry.
chayro
Agree totally with Rushton on the RCA Classic 45's; i have them all and play them frequently. i also have some of the RCA originals and the 45's are a whole new level of musical energy and information.

A few of them are slightly 'hot' on top for my vdH Colibri (which itself is a bit tipped up) and i turn down my tweeter gain.

a few others besides those 4 Rush mentions that i really enjoy are the Mussorsky, 'Pictures'; the Rimsky-Korsakov, 'Shaherazade', and the Heifetz 'Brahms Violin Concerto'.

If you ever wanted to demonstrate what high end audio can be to someone who has never heard a high end system; these 45's played on a quality tt will do it. or show a digital fan how a tt can sound. the 45's are pretty much....game, set and match (except for master tapes from The Tape Project).

for Classical lovers my favorite 45rpm demo disc is the first disc for 'The Royal Ballet'. breathtaking!

for rock fans i ask what is their favorite Led Zepplin cut? the 45rpm box set has them all. we might play the cd, then the excellent Classic 33 rpm version, and then the 45. the 45 makes the 33 sound dead and flat in comparison. the 45 LZ set energizes every molecule in the room. they are a force of nature. way more information.

yeah, the 45's basically rule.

don't get me wrong; i love 33's and the best DTD 33's can be on the same level as 45's to some degree. 33's have nothing to apologize for.

the better your vinyl system is; the more headroom a 45 has to operate in. lower noise floor, more ability to communicate space and dynamic contrasts, deeper bass, more top end air. i can understand why some people are not as 'taken' by 45's as others. but that is true of any type of software; as any system matures more information is revealed. the big thing about 45's is just how much information is there to be found.
As to the OP-seems like an odd objection on the face of it. Virtually (I'm being conservative-I'd imagine *all*) of the 45rpms being released have a 33 1/3 original, and most have many 33 1/3 reissues. i.e., the OP should just buy the 33 1/3 rpm issues of the 45 rpm records that he loathes so. Sometimes what we perceive as issues-just ain't.
Why? Why not treat yourself once and awhile? I have both excellent originals and 45 reissues of Prokofiev's Scythian Suite/Oranges (Mercury), Reiner's Mussy Pics at Exhibition, Saint Saens/Munch Organ Symphony and Ravel/Munch Daphnis. (RCA) Hear it now and hear it loudly: with one exception, the 45rpms beat the heck out of the originals in matters of transparency, lower noise floor, sense of huge acoustic space, (easily heard in soft passages), tighter bass, silky strings and--most important--the retention of the ineffable "boogie factor" of the originals, something I missed in the corresponding 33rpm reissues. The exception is the Munch/Daphnis: there is not the stunning increase in transparency, the untangling of lines in complex and thick writing, (such as the final climax of the Daybreak), that the other 45's exhibit. It may simply be that the master tape is congested in those places to begin with. My lowly cart sure likes them. (Dyna 20 XL)
Johnbrown - the last two 45 reissues I purchased, Bill Evans/Tony Bennett and Night in Tunisia, were not available on 33, at least that I could see. That aside, it seems that most of you are fine with the growing number of 45 reissues, so it appears that the record companies have the pulse of the consumer better than I thought.