Whats on your turntable tonight?

Montepilot, I agree with Slipknot's recommendation of the Holst "Savitri" on Argo ZNF 6 (and later as ZK 78). This is always my demonstration LP for someone who wants to hear the singers actually moving across the stage both laterally and from back to front. It's not all that rare, but you will have to be patient to find a copy from one of the used LP retailers (like Mikrokosmos or Ars Nova). Janet Baker is superb on this recording as Savitri, and the orchestral accompaniment is striking in the subtlety with which it's recorded.

The Alwyn "Miss Julie" is not as dynamic in the motion on stage of the singers. And, the music may not as immediately engaging as the Holst. For my earlier comments on "Miss Julie", my post was on 1/17/06.

Another alternative is the Maazel "Porgy and Bess" on Decca. An outstanding recording with great soundstaging and with superb performances by the vocalists. Unfortunately somewhat costly, however.
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The Chambers Brothers -The Time Has Come on Columbia 360 sound.

Bill Evans -Out of the Cool on Impulse/Speakers Corner

Rushton, Hope the new cartridge is on the way. When it arrives I just pulled out a brown A&M (first) pressing of Teaser and the Fire Cat that I forgot I owned and I hate to say it but way back in November Wc65mustang commented that this pressing was “clearly superior to the MoFi. Not even close. I have both. The MoFi is a tad quieter but the A&M is simply much more dynamic.” Take a listen if you have a copy I think he’s right, in fact mine proved it. I had compared the Mofi to a tan copy (second or third press) back in the fall.

Wc65mustang, If your out there, that was an excellent call IMHO. Cheers!

Jim Brock-Tropic Affair.....RR-31 Refrence Recordings
Cal Tjader-A Fuego Vivo... Picante cjp-176

Foster, interesting comment on "Teaser." I've always enjoyed the MoFi reissue, notwithstanding its detractors in some quarters. My tan label A&M (Sterling mastering, F7) has always sounded good to my ear, but I found the MoFi bettered it in overall resolution and harmonic integrity. The MoFi is cut at a lower level than the tan label, and my tan label is probably not that early given the "F7" scribing. I'll have to give them another comparative listening with your comments in mind. Thanks!
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OK, here we go: I'll start off by saying that Thursday 3/30, Lloyd Walker and Fred Law delivered, set-up and dialed in my new Proscenium Gold turntable. The build quality, looks and design are second to none. By the time we were done Thursday night, it was close to 11:00 PM and everyone was tired and our ears were a little frazzled, having spent the better part of the evening playing and replaying several LP sides so as to dial in the Magic Diamond cartridge. As a result, I spent almost all of yesterday in the listening room just listening to a wide variety of my favorite reference discs in order to get a handle on this turntable. For those of you looking for a great review of the Proscenium Gold, I would suggest your read the review put up by Rushton

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?ranlg&1083208495&openusid&zzRushton&4&5#Rushton

There is not much I can add to what he has written so eloquently here, except to say that my feelings pretty much echo his. This LP playback system is designed and engineered with tolerances and specs like those in a nuclear power plant (Lloyd is a control systems engineer).
Once the table is set up, maintainence and use are so easy, it belies the build quality. While VTA is not changable "on the fly", it takes about 20 seconds or so to make adjustments to acommodate for 140, 180, or 200 gram LPs. Believe me when I tell you, that when you use a product of the caliber of the Walker and a cartidge of the caliber of the Magic Diamond, those incremental, tiny changes in VTA make a world of difference in the sound, from just plain great, to holy-cow-I-never-heard-that-on-this-recording out of this world.

A list below of some of the things we have been listening to:
Stravinsky "Firebird" Dorati/LSO 200g reissue
Basie "88 Basie Street" 200g 45 rpm reissue of the Pablo
Ray Brown/Laurindo Almeida "Moonlight Seranade" Jeton (This one blew Lloyd Walker away)
Ray Brown Trio "Soular Energy" 200g blue vinyl reissue
"Il Corneto" Klimo Open Window
Miles Davis "Kind Of Blue" 200g 45 rpm reissue
Rachmaninoff "Piano Concerto No. 3" Janis/Dorati - Mercury reissue
Dead Can Dance "Into The Labyrinth" Thanks to Fred law for brining me a copy of this long OP record
Patricia Barber "Modern Cool" MOFI 45 rpm reissue
Holst "The Planets" von Karajan/Berliner DG recording
Strauss "Eine Alpensinphonie" von Karajan/Berliner DG

More stuff on tap for this evening, but I have to give my ears a chance to recalibrate.