Establishing a common analog listening bias

Dear Axel, dear Frogman, I will illustrate in the list of my "picks" the point of the unamplified instruments in live space.
Stay tuned - I will be back tuesday night with my list and a few words about each record on it.
Cheers,
D.

I thought the subject of this thread was a good one when I first saw it. Now after having contributed once and read through twice, I think it will end up raising more questions than answering.

First of all, there was discussion of whether or not certain albums were sonically up to snuff. Then the discussion digressed into a pissing match over set-up. The third, an possibly the most fatal flaw in all this, is being able to communicate that which you hear such that the majority of people reading the "review" will comprehend what the reviewer is talking about. One doesn't need to read many audiophile periodicals to understand that even the "professionals" struggle to get this one right.

I'm not here to throw a wet blanket on the party, but even after certain "reference" recordings are chosen, a lot of other "standards" have to be established and agreed to for this exercise to have any analytical value.

Or we can just continue on tilting windmills . . .

Eric

A suggestion from my side.

I have picked a few Jazz records first.
Don't expect any surprises here.
Each of these records has stand the test of time and each and everyone has outstanding sonic virtues AND does provide a very natural sonic envelope AND is very enjoyable to listen to for the music alone.
Furthermore each and every of these discs can serve in several different aspects as a benchmark disc.
I have done some research and right now - 07/07/2009 - each and every of these records is available as a reissue through the usual audiophile sources.

This is not a complete list.
However every of this records is a "test" record of the very highest caliber - even if it might not apparent at first glance.

- each record is avaialble NEW now
- through mailorder for everyone
- each record is US$50 or less
- most records do have a VERY similar groove angle - VERY IMPORTANT !!!!

I have added a few very short notes to each record.
In no particular order:

Jazz:

- Dave Brubeck: "Time Out" CS-8192 Classic Records
***** direct, airy, superb livelike-presence, stunning high-frequency percussion details, superb timeless music masterpiece, a groundbreaking record *****

- Miles Davis: "Kind of Blue" CS-8163 Classic Records
***** outstanding low level detail, extremely wide range of tone colors, perfect - yet hard to reproduce soundstaging of the group members, sense of rythmic flow and fantastic interaction between the musicans- the two saxophones in their very different styles in particular. *****

- Coleman Hawkins: "Today and now" AIPJ-34
***** direct, fast, live-like presence, true "physical weight" of each and every instrument, stunning dynamics and one of my all time favorites if it comes to demonstrate speed, pace, groove and energy. *****

- Oscar Peterson: "We get requests" V6-8606 Speakers Corner
***** perfect soundstage, very precise, natural and beautiful captured piano without any of the usual high-lightening, stunning, outstanding natural recorded acoustic bass which is VERY hard to reproduce in the correct balance towards the percussion set and the piano, superb tiny low level detail (Ray Brown's humming while he really goes into it) while dominant bass line often overwhelming everything on lesser systems. Fantastic album you will play over and over again because of the superb tracks and ease of the pieces. Timeless******

- Stan Getz / Jao Gilberto V6-8545 Speakers Corner Reissue
****** w/ Astrud Gilberto. No need to add any comments - do I ? *****

I would like to add either Oliver Nelsons "Blues and the abstract truth", Eric Dolphy's "Out to lunch" and most important Earl Hines "Once upon a time" - I am still checking if any of these 3 records is due to be re-released on vinyl soon.

All these records do come from times past.
All are "classics".
All are cut today with identical cutting angles - so we do not have to mess around with different VTA for each record.
All are recorded with very natural acoustical envelope.
All are recorded with fairly little miking and without amplified instruments.
I can supply much more detailed listening remarks on each of these records.
Aside from this topic here - I strongly recommend to get any of these 5 records in case you haven't done so.
They are timeless and great records of the last and this century.
We won't see any better coming our way in our life-time.

Classical to be added tomorrow.
Some Rock/Pop towards the weekend.

Please continue to supply some of your thoughts.
Please keep in mind that the records must be readily available, US$50 or less and - if possible - reissues from one of the major sources Classic Records, Speakers Corner or Acoustic Sounds.
This will help to keep the VTA almost identical for all these records and will MUCH improve the common ground aspect regarding the set-up of the front-end.

I agree with Eric.

I am also with Eric and Headsnappin.
What is bright, what is right timber/tone, what is warm, overly warm. You don't know as is differs from person to person depending upon their live music listening experiences. And biases.