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Frank Sinatra CD's with Great Sound?

To start the New Year I am renewing my search for Frank Sinatra music. I am looking for CD's in particular. Unfortunately it seems like trial and error to find cd's that deliver the musical goods. For example, the My Way Cd, "The Best of Sinatra is a 2 cd (Made in Australia)
set and it seems that the highs and lows were cut off. This is a problem in many cd's as they seem to be made for
portable cd devices only. The choice of Sinatra Cd's is vast and I was looking for guidance to find particular cd's that let all the music come through. My system consists of Thor Audio Amp, preamp, Blue Note Stibbert Improved Tubed Cd player and quad 988's. In short, my system is up to it, but is the source up to it as well? Any help with particular recommendations would be appreciated.
kjl
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qdrone
1,039 posts
 
Try The Duets series which were recorded toward the end of his run. He sings with some of the luminaries of today on this series.
eweedhome
227 posts
 
The 50's material with Capitol (my favorite, by far) was digitally remastered I think in the late 80s and released on both CD and Lp. I bought Only the Lonely, In the Wee Small Hours (mono), Songs for Young Lovers (mono), and several others on CD. There was a lot of lousy remastering done in those days, but, to my ear, the folks that did this Sinatra material got it right with these three, at least. I have used the first two of those as demo discs (among others) in listening sessions at hi-fi stores from time-to-time. (In fact, I used two of the three last night on the EMM CDSA that I borrowed to audition for the weekend, and they sound really good.)

Since that time, I think they may have been remastered again. The newer versions may sound great...I don't know. There's such an irritating tendency among some companies to assume that "remastering" means "turn up the treble till it hurts"...so, out of caution, I'm sticking with what I've got, for now.

If you like the Tommy Dorsey/Sinatra material (which I quite enjoy, myself), RCA reissued it in nicely done remasterings in 1994 (CD only, as far as I know). The material was released in a 5-CD box called "The Song is You." It's just a tad brighter than I prefer, but they somehow cleaned up the sound very nicely compared to a similar earlier edition. It's some of the most listenable early 40's material that I've heard.
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shadorne
7,477 posts
 
Live at the Sands
ehaller
98 posts
 
Yup, "Live at The Sands".
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