Sealed MOFI's on eBay


Where did all the sealed Mobile Fidelity recordings that are on eBay come from? It seems that 2 out of every 3 MoFI's listed for sale are sealed, is this possible? Didn't anyone ever buy these to listen to? Is there any way to know for sure these sealed copies are originals? I saw a sealed copy of Led Zeppelin II listed for $495.00! Are these recording worth what people are paying for them? I buy LP's to listen to, something sealed in a plastic bag doesn't excite me!
rickcomer
The overseas market is at least partially what is driving the price up.I have had The Beatles White Album on my ebay watch list for about a year now waiting to catch a "sleeper" that "accidently" sells for around $50. If someone lists that they are willing to ship worldwide I won't even bother watching it. I have several mofi's,many of which I bought years ago when I worked for a hifi store.I remember using Fleetwood Mac,Crime of the Century, and Dark Side of the Moon to sell speakers to the point that I never wanted to hear them again! Interesting that the regular record shops very seldom acknowledge any extra value for audiophile recordings.I have bought some used Mofi's for as little as $2! While the covers are generally not mint,the vinyl is quite often still in resonable shape. Interesting the difference in value perception between collectors and audiophiles......
I have the MFSL copy of "Who are you?" on CD and I think it sounds too congested and muddy. I also prefer the mass produced version of Dark side of the Moon to the MFSL version because the dynamics seem to be stunted on the MFSL version. I still believe that MFSL produces excellent vinyl versions from a master tape, but not CD. Beware of EBAY listing's of MFSL CD's of The Beatles. MFSL was only licensed to produce Vinyl editions of The Beatles albums, but not CD's, so one can only assume that these are some sort of bootlegs. You can sometimes find Dr. Ebbetts versions, which supposedly are transfers from the MFSL vinyl albums to CD. I have heard a few of these and they sound as if some of the music in the midrange is missing! Buyer beware! You have to be crazy to even consider the prices that these greedy folks are asking for these CD's. None of them are worth more than $35.
In that case you're hearing it much better than 99.999% of listeners.I think it's great that companies like Mo Fi did there thing. Nothing is perfect. I've opened many a faulty CD & Album in my time; usually just return them.