Beethoven Symphonies - best perf + sonics on CD

That's a good comment. It is surprising about Karajan not being mentioned. The first complete set of LvB I purchased was his 1977 set with the Berliners on DG. An LP Box set.

He was considered one of the best, if not the best. I think he, along with Bernstein, were among the first 'Celeb' conductors.

He was good, The berliners were good and the DG engineers have a great reputation. But I seldom listen to him. I have the 1963 set on CD, and a SACD of the 1977 9th.
I still prefer the Bohm with Vienna. Vienna has the best strings since Philadelphia. Some symphony recordings let you hear within the orch. Some seem like a wall of sound. At least thats the way I hear it. I like the within.

Cheers

Rok2id,
The OP was looking for top notch recordings with good performances. For me, the analog DG recordings of the Berliner made in the Jesus Christus Kirche were good, but when they changed the recording venue and went to digital recordings forget it. Not so good. I found von Karajan's recordings made in the 60's very worthwhile, but those that came later were pretty forgetable.

Brownsfan:

I agree.

Cheers

It seems to be the trend however that orchestras are getting away from the golden era style of sixty string players with a silky sound, a sound which separated the Vienna from the Chicago, etc... However, Beethoven never saw such large orchestras during his life time.
I adore those days when Furtwangler, Klemperer, Böhm, Mengleberg and Von Karajan set standards with legendary performances but now I'm looking forward towards hearing more historically minded performances. Especially given the fact that instrument makers are making period instruments that incorporate advancements which erratic the problems inherent in those original antiques.
I like the band 'modern times_1800' and I'm hoping that they will expand their repertoire. They are an excellent example of a period ensemble. Some conductors/ ensembles make better decisions about performance practice than do others. I wasn't happy with Harnoncourt's Beethoven cycle and thought the historical trumpets to be disconnected from the modern orchestra. I'm glad to see that the Juilliard school has a historical performance department, this is encouraging.
Any insights about what's to come, Beethoven or otherwise?

I have to disagree about classical music being "composer's music"--I'd rather hear the Guarneri Quartet playing anything than most other quartets playing the finest the repertoire has to offer. As a matter of fact, it's with the "top shelf" pieces (which is a somewhat subjective category, of course) that I insist on hearing a "top shelf" performance.
So, as with so many things, "YMMV."