Rock: well recorded bass...60s/70s

Bongofury,

So the point is if someone has a copy of an early Stones record and as more and more are pressed the quality could degrade?

If so maybe that's why the original poster has the issues he has maybe?

I am just asking because i bought the first "America" album on reissue a few weeks ago and yes it sounds good but supposedly America back in the day tried to make great sounding albums and i don't think this is a great sounding album, BUT 95% of my collection sounds very very good across the audio spectrum.

If a TT is set up wrong wouldn't everything sound wrong?

Just trying to figure out why some people say oh this record sounds great mean while when i try it, it doesnt sound good at all to me, could there also be a matter of opinion about all this.

Peoples first thought is setup but i think there are just as many poorly produced records out there and what one might think is great someone else could think is poor.

Am I making sense? at all!

Goldenear

You are making sense.

First, you could go to a second hand store and buy 30 copies of the same title, say by the Stones. You could find original issues on both side of the Atlantic, later issues (look for bar coded covers) and current reissues. All are being put out to the buying public as the real deal sonically. You will actually find that that some are "dead" sounding, some lack high end, some lack bass, some are "smeared sounding" in the vocals, and in the rare cases, some approximate "master tape" sound. The variation is in the manufacturing process. Many labels were hampered by poor quality control--their policy was to have the consumer simply return and exchange these at the point of purchase. The flucuations were due to heat and humidity in the plant on a given day, the press run, and the actual stampers used. Remember, vinyl was molded into place.

Some albums suffer from the source material. For example, all Stones albums from the US and Japan used 2nd Generation "stampers" while the master stampers were in the UK at the time. If you have the right system, you can hear subtle differences. The record labels did not do a very good job at maintaining control of the master tapes. Why many CDs sound terrible, is that the original material was lost and the transfer was made off of "back up" copies. I have been in the Live Music space for 30 years and I hear this complaint constantly from the veteran bands. That may be why your America album as a reissue sounds bad.

I agree that usually sound is more impacted by the dynamics of the room, and not the content. Speaker placement and sound enhancing room treatments can easily address and improve sonic performance in the tens of percentage gain. Also, properly alligning your tone arm and needle, making sure you have stable cabling between components. I use active speakers, which are internally amped, so I have less inefficiencies due to cabling. You may want to look at companies like ATC and Bryston who make simple, bomb proof gear.

PS: I sometimes laugh at vinyl purists versus digital. It was an imperfect medium at best. When you do stumble on the rare records that are quiet and have master tape sound, they are pure magic. But you will have to shoot-out a lot of dead wax to get at the gems. I find that LA and Seattle has an insane number of stores containing well-priced vintage vinyl that you can do this against. Figure $60 for 30 records; you will find a few of the great ones. Better use of money, versus $60 buying two heavy vinyl reissues. Estate and garage sales are even better to buy whole collections of old stuff.

I'm done buying any older recorded CDs (i.e. 60's, 70's, even 80's) unless they're in HDCD or SACD format or they've been digitally remastered to 24 bit. They just sound awful, little bass, terrible soundstage, etc. My personal goal is to now replace my existing CD collection that fall into that "older recorded" CD category. I've already started and donate my older CDs to the local library. Example: I recentl purchased Jackson Browne "Late for the Sky" digitally remastered. I had the older CD. I played both CDs side by side and the difference is night and day. I immediately donated the older CD. I'm waiting for the day when the record companies wake up and start remastering the earlier Beatles albums, Van Morrison, CCR, etc. Have any of you heard the Beatles "Love" CD? Those cuts were remastered and they sound substantially better. The bass is fabulous.

Pdn be careful there are people on here that will argue with you about this, like maybe a speaker isn't placed right, or there is a curtain hanging a little too low on the right side of the room or your cd player isn't leveled.

ME I agree with you 110%

I too am replacing some older cd's and its funny you mention jackson browne "saturate before using" would be great re-mastered.