Whats on your turntable tonight?

So far
Beethoven "Symphony No. 6" Philharmonia/Klemperer (Angel S 35711)
Miles Davis "Kind of Blue" (Columbia CS 8163) Classic Records 200g reissue
Jennifer Warnes "Famous Blue Raincoat" (Cypress/A&M 0100)
Bill Evans Trio "New Jazz Conceptions" (Riverside 12-223) This version of the trio had Teddy Kotick doing the bass duties

Tonight: comparative listening to 33 rpm vs. 45 rpm versions of some of Classic Records' RCA reissues.

So far, there is no contest sonically (did anyone suspect otherwise?).

But, my question in doing this was: "Did the mastering of the 45 rpm versions avoid the hard brittle top end plaguing some of the early 33 rpm issues sufficiently to make it worth the gamble of buying a few more of the 45s to replace other disappointing early release 33s?"

So far, the answer is "YES" for the following LPs (listening to selected tracks on each):

"Clair de Lune" RCA LSC-2326 - the sound of strings on the 33 rpm is brittle in the upper frequencies to the point I don't find it enjoyable to listen to (at least on my system). The 45 rpm does not have this problem: the string tone is smooth and extended. Definitely not polite and rolled off like many of the originals (so don't come here looking for that original "Shaded Dog" sound; this is more like what I expect to hear in an excellent "contemporary" recording. The 45 rpm also has all the other virtues we've come to expect of this media.

"Gonoud: Faust/Bizet: Carmen Suite" LSC-2449 - The 33 rpm version of this is much better, and much more listenable, than I recalled. The top end has some of that brittleness and hard edge to it, but not nearly so much as some others. Just every now and then the massed strings jump out and BITE. Still..., the 45 rpm version is simply soooo muuucch better in so many respects.

"Belioz: Symphony Fantastique" LSC-1900 - MUCH improved string tone on the 45 rpm version. The 33 rpm is not as bad as I recalled, as with LSC-2449; but the 45 rpm is a very distinct improvement in every respect. (And still my favorite performance with a modern orchestra is the Freccia/RPO reissued on Chesky CR 1. (If you can find it and have a choice, get the 180 gram, not the lighter weight first pressing run).

Conclusion? For me I will go ahead with some additional 45 rpm Classic Record purchases (such as the Sibelius/Finlandia LSC-2336 which sounds so sad on the 33 rpm version and is such a GREAT performance and recording, and such as the Reiner/Spain LSC- 2230), but cautiously.
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Beta testing Paul Frumkin's 2 stage LP cleaning solutions, so I am going through a variety of older LPs, cleaning them and listening
Vivaldi "Four Seasons" von Karajan/Berlin PO (DG 2530 296)
Tangerine Dream "Rubycon" (Virgin International VI 2025)
Art Pepper "Meets the Rhythm Section" (Contemporary S75532)

It's been a 60s & 70s morning...
CSN&Y - So Far
Deep Purple - Made In Japan
Rahsaan Roland Kirk - The Inflated Tear (great LP!)
Jimi Hendrix - Electric Ladyland

Cheers, Spencer

Playing now:
Varese: Ameriques; Milhaud: L'homme et son desir; Honegger: Pacific 231, Abravanel/UtahSO, Vanguard SRV 274 Classic Records reissue - WOW!

Planned for later:
Pentangle: "Cruel Sister", Reprise 6430
Na Cabarfeidh: "stick it in your ear" - highland pipes, whistles, drums, guitars - these guys can play!
Pentangle: "Basket of Light"

Sonny Rollins: "Way Out West" (45 rpm reissue from Analogue Production's Fantasy series).

And, as it is now getting later in the evening (and no one else has posted so I can still edit this post), the significant other has gone to bed so music with a lot of bass energy is no longer an option. So let's move to "music-with-no-bass": Renaissance music for viola da gamba, lute and voice:

"Songs of a Travelling Apprentice" Cohen/CambridgeConsort, Titanic TI 19. (If you enjoy early music, the recordings on the Titanic label are very worthwhile picking up whenever you see them. Nice performances that are well recorded.)

As an aside, here was another example of what a difference a good record cleaning fluid can make to the sound of an LP. I'd cleaned this LP originally (some years back when first purchased) with a home brew alchohol-based solution and VPI RCM. I hadn't played this LP for several years, and listening tonight, I was bothered by some sibilance I just couldn't eliminate (VTA adjustment, add a touch of dampening, nothing worked). So, since I'd never cleaned this "clean" record with Disc Doctor, back it went for a quick clean using my recently adopted Disc Doctor regimen. BINGO: no more sibilance.
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