RCA Vintage

Including RCA records recorded during the Living Stereo era and pressed into the 70s.

Bob and Ray / Throw a Stereo Spectacular

More Living Stereo Recordings

  • With STUNNING Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades or close to them from start to finish, this TAS-approved Living Stereo pressing could not be beat
  • Originally produced as a sampler record for the Living Stereo line, it is an absolute Must Own for serious audiophiles looking to take their system to the next level
  • Our reference copy here at Better Records is so vital to our operation that it would not be for sale at any (well, almost any) price!
  • It has long been my personal favorite test disc, as well as one of our three best cartridge tweaking and turntable setup discs
  • 4 stars: “The gleefully cacophonous Guckenheimer Sour Kraut Band takes the prize for providing the most unusual musical selection, but the overall program is extremely diverse [and] the comedy and music are enjoyable.”

Bob and Ray Throw A Stereo Spectacular just happens to be our favorite Test Disc, eclipsing all others in the areas of naturalness and difficulty of reproduction. Any tweak or new room treatment — we seem to do them almost weekly these days — has to pass one test and one test only: The Bob and Ray Test.

This record has the power to help you get to the next level in audio like no other.

(more…)

Satie – Previn Conducts Satie and Music from France / LSO

More Classical and Orchestral Recordings

  • Here is a vintage RCA Red Seal import pressing (the first to ever hit the site) with INCREDIBLE Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades or close to them from first note to last
  • A tough shootout, as no other copy earned a 3+ grade on either side, which simply means that when you find a top copy, it sets such a high standard that everything else ends up getting marked down
  • It’s simply bigger, more transparent, less distorted, more three-dimensional and more real than practically all of what we played
  • Everything that we listen for in a great classical recording can be heard on this copy – it’s immediate, dynamic, very low distortion, spacious, and alive

(more…)

Beethoven & Kodaly / Serenade & Duo / Heifetz, Piatigorsky

Hot Stamper Pressings Featuring the Violin

  • Solid Double Plus (A++) grades or BETTER bring these two wonderful chamber pieces to life on this early Shaded Dog pressing of LSC-2550
  • It’s also fairly quiet at Mint Minus Minus, a grade that even our most-well-cared-for vintage classical titles have trouble playing at
  • The Living Stereo sound is rich and transparent and, unlike a lot of RCA’s chamber recordings, not dry, with tonality that is right on the money
  • The performers are present and the transients of their instruments are not in the least bit smeared, vintage tubes or no vintage tubes in the recording chain

The performers on this recording are Heifetz, violin / Primrose, viola / Piatigorsky, cello.

(more…)

Eartha Kitt – St. Louis Blues

More Living Stereo Recordings

UPDATE 2026

Years ago we wrote:

Don’t expect to see another copy of this album on the site any time soon. Pressings of this album are extremely rare in any condition, and this one not only sounds great but plays surprisingly well for RCA in 1958.

For us audiophiles both the sound and the music here are enchanting. If you’re looking to demonstrate just how good 1958 All Tube Analog sound can be, this killer copy may be just the record for you!

Unfortunately, it seems as though at least 80% of the Eartha Kitt albums on Living Stereo that we pick up end up being too noisy to sell.

Unless we luck into an exceptionally quiet copy with good sound, for now we give up.

Yes, we’re throwing in the towel. Never again.

(more…)

Gershwin – Concerto In F / Cuban Overture / Wild / Fiedler

More of the Music of George Gershwin

  • Both sides of this original Shaded Dog pressing were giving us the big and bold Living Stereo sound we were looking for on these wonderful orchestral pieces, earning solid Double Plus (A++) grades or BETTER
  • It’s also fairly quiet at Mint Minus Minus, a grade that even our most well-cared-for vintage classical titles have trouble playing at
  • If you love the sound of a big bass drum, the Concerto in F is the work for you, and the engineers know how to capture both the bass and the space surrounding it
  • The rich, textured sheen of the strings that Living Stereo made possible in the 50s and early 60s is clearly evident throughout these pieces, something that the Heavy Vinyl crowd will never experience, because that sound just does not exist on modern repressings
  • Everything that is wrong with the low-res Classic reissue – boosted mids, strings lacking in texture and sheen, etc. – is nowhere to be found on these superb sides, overflowing with Living Stereo Tubey Magic from 1962
  • This is yet another Must Own orchestral recording from 1962
  • For a more complete list, the highest quality recordings of piano concertos that we’ve auditioned to date can be found here

(more…)

Henry Mancini – Charade

More of the Music of Henry Mancini

  • This copy is super spacious, sweet and positively dripping with ambience — talk about Tubey Magic, the liquidity of the sound here is positively uncanny
  • If you’re looking to demonstrate just how good 1963 All Tube Analog sound can be, this superb copy may be just the record for you
  • 4 1/2 stars: “A great Mancini recording made during the same fruitful, early-60s period that produced two other fine soundtracks of his, Breakfast at Tiffany’s and The Pink Panther.”

This vintage Living Stereo pressing gives you a healthy dose of the Tubey Magic we love here at Better Records. An added bonus: the last track on side 2, “Charade (Carousel),” has absolutely no IGD on the glockenspiel or Calliope. Few copies will not be groove damaged on that track — we speak from experience here.

(more…)

Beethoven / Violin Concerto / Heifetz / Munch

More of the Music of Beethoven

  • Our superb vintage pressing of this brilliant Living Stereo recording – from 1956! – boasts solid Double Plus (A++) sound or BETTER throughout
  • It’s also fairly quiet at Mint Minus Minus, a grade that even our most well-cared-for vintage classical titles have trouble playing at
  • The orchestra is wide, tall, spacious, rich and tubey, yet the dynamics and transparency are first rate
  • White Dogs and Shaded Dogs can both sound good on this title – just avoid the Red Seals and later pressings if you are looking for the best possible sound
  • There are about 150 orchestral recordings we think offer the best performances with the highest quality sound. This record is certainly deserving of a place on that list.
  • If you’re a fan of Beethoven’s music, this superb All Tube Recording from 1956 belongs in your collection.
  • This Classic Records pressing, however, was a piece of garbage, and we made our position clear right from the start

The reproduction of the violin here is superb — harmonically rich, natural, clean, clear, resolving. What sets the truly killer pressings apart is the depth, width and three-dimensional quality of the sound, as well as the fact that they become less congested in the louder passages and don’t get shrill or blary.

(more…)

Tchaikovsky / Rimsky-Korsakoff – Capriccio Italien / Capriccio Espagnol / Kondrashin

More of the Music of Tchaikovsky

More of the Music of Rimsky-Korsakov

  • Kondrashin and the RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra’s performance of these sublime orchestral works makes its Hot Stamper debut with solid Double Plus (A++) Living Stereo sound or BETTER throughout this vintage pressing of LSC 2323
  • Capriccio Espagnol takes up all of this Nearly Triple Plus (A++ to A+++) side two and is practically as good as we have ever heard it, right up there with our Shootout Winner
  • Our Shootout Winner was a White Dog pressing as well, with these same stamper numbers – lucky us!
  • The Shaded Dog pressings can be excellent, but the one pressing that came in last in our shootout was — drum roll, please — a Shaded Dog with a 1s side one, if you can wrap your head around it
  • Both of these sides are full, rich and clear, with more space and more three-dimensional staging than practically all of the other copies we played
  • And of course it will completely destroy any pressing you may have on Heavy Vinyl, from any label, at any playback speed
  • If you like orchestral spectaculars, this is the record for you!

(more…)

Couperin / Mozart / Corelli / Britten – Music For Strings / Janigro

More Classical and Orchestral Recordings in Living Stereo

  • You’ll find KILLER Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) Living Stereo sound or close to it throughout this vintage Shaded Dog pressing of these superb classical compositions
  • It’s also fairly quiet at Mint Minus Minus, a grade that even our most well-cared-for vintage classical titles have trouble playing at
  • This copy was simply bigger, more transparent, less distorted, more three-dimensional and more REAL than practically all of what we played
  • The rich, textured sheen of the strings that Living Stereo made possible in the 50s and early 60s is clearly evident throughout these pieces, something that the Heavy Vinyl crowd will never experience, because that sound simply does not exist on modern records

(more…)

Chet Atkins – Caribbean Guitar

More of the Music of Chet Atkins

  • You’ll find stunning Nearly Triple Plus (A++ to A+++) grades on both sides of this famous TAS Super Disc RCA Living Stereo LP – just shy of our Shootout Winner
  • Plays fairly quiet too – about as quiet as these RCA pressings from the early 60s ever will (noted condition issues below notwithstanding)
  • If you have ever heard one of our luscious Living Stereo Chet Atkins records, you know what to expect – off the charts Tubey Magic unlike anything made in the last fifty years, or more!
  • Engineer Bill Porter just doesn’t know how not to make an amazing sounding Living Stereo recording – everything the guy touches is gold
  • If you’re a fan of the smooth guitar stylings of Mr. Atkins, this is a classic from 1962 that belongs in your collection.

This is one of Chet Atkins’ best albums. Sonically, it’s right up there with The Other Chet Atkins and the Hollywood album. It seems like Bill Porter just doesn’t know how not to make an amazing sounding Living Stereo recording. He knocked this out of the park.

I suppose we owe a debt of gratitude to Harry Pearson for pointing out to us with his TAS List what a great record this is, although I’m pretty sure anybody playing this album can tell after a minute or two that it’s in that very special class of great recordings.

This album is a little more lively than some of his other recordings, which can be criticized for being a little too laid back. For example, try side 2, cut 2 where Chet actually jams.

The last track on side 2 where Chet is joined by a trumpet player is my favorite on the album. That guitar-trumpet combination is pretty magical on that song. And you’ve got to love the kind of sound Bill Porter get from a trumpet. That’s the kind of sound we audiophiles drool over. I do anyway.

(more…)