Stereo=Best

These records are available in mono, but they sound their best in stereo.

Haydn – Symphony Nos. 59 and 81 / Dorati

More of the Music of Joseph Haydn

  • This vintage Mercury Living Presence LP brings excellent recording energy and presence to Haydn’s music with solid Double Plus (A++) sound or BETTER from first note to last
  • It’s also remarkably quiet at the high end of Mint Minus Minus, a grade that even our most well-cared-for vintage classical titles have trouble playing at
  • This recording is not your typical dry, bright, nasaly, upper-midrangy Merc – the sound is rich and smooth like a good London, with a big stage and lovely transparency
  • Dorati pushes the Festival Chamber Orchestra to dizzying heights of performance – if you find Haydn boring, try this record, it’s got the pacing and dynamic contrasts that bring the Master of the Symphony’s music back to life
  • There are about 150 orchestral recordings we’ve awarded the honor of offering the Best Performances with the Highest Quality Sound, and this record certainly deserve a place on that list.

These are some of the best Haydn Symphonies I have heard on disc. Folks, until I heard Dorati and the Festival Chamber Orchestra perform these pieces, I never knew there could be this much FIRE in Haydn’s music. (Please excuse the pun; the 59th Symphony is entitled “Fire”.)

Mercury brings the kind of recording energy and presence to this music that I have frankly never heard before. Credit must go to both Dorati and his players.

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Weber / Overtures / Ansermet

Decca and London Pressings Available Now

  • Glorious sonics throughout this early London pressing (only the second copy to hit the site in years), with an INCREDIBLE Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) side one mated to a solid Double Plus (A++) side two
  • 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
  • It has the Decca / London sound we expect from Ansermet, the Suisse Romande orchestra, and the amazing Victoria Hall they recorded in — rich and spacious, with lovely texture to the strings
  • These sides are open, airy and sweet, with a lovely extended top end and spaciousness for days

This record is exceptionally dynamic. If you like listening to your records at realistic levels — the only way to fly to our way of thinking — then you had better watch your levels! The huge bottom end makes those dynamic passages a thrill to experience. Make sure your VTA is carefully adjusted — a big deal with us these days — and you will be in for the ride of your life.

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Charles Mingus – Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus

More of the Music of Charles Mingus

  • This original Impulse Stereo pressing boasts supeb sound from the first note to the last
  • Exceptionally spacious sound is a hallmark of any classic Mingus album, and this one does not disappoint — in fact, with Shootout Winning sound, it excels in its recreation of the three-dimensional space of the studio (and in practically every other area of reproduction too)
  • Impulse released a Heavy Vinyl pressing in 1995, as did Speakers Corner in 2003, but we’re quite sure that neither can hold a candle to the real thing
  • Mingus was undeniably one of the Giants of Jazz — the originality of the music on this record is simply more proof of his genius
  • 5 stars: “It closes out the most productive and significant chapter of his career, and one of the most fertile, inventive hot streaks of any composer in jazz history.”

The sound is tonally correct, Tubey Magical and above all natural. The timbre of each and every instrument is right and it doesn’t take a pair of golden ears to hear it. So high-resolution too. If you love ’50s and ’60s jazz you cannot go wrong here. (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

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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.

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Etta Jones – Don’t Go To Strangers

More Pop and Jazz Vocal Recordings

  • This vintage Prestige recording pressed on fairly quiet OJC vinyl boasts two solid Double Plus (A++) or BETTER sides
  • The vocal naturalness and immediacy of this copy will put Etta in the room with you – more than anything else, it lets her performance come to life
  • Remarkably spacious and three-dimensional, as well as relaxed and full-bodied (thanks, RVG!) – this pressing was a solid step up over most other copies we played
  • 4 1/2 stars: “…Don’t Go to Strangers is a perfect gem of a recording.”

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Franck – Symphony in D Minor / Paray

More Mercury Classical Recordings

  • Frack’s Symphony in D Minor appears on the site for only the second time ever, here with lush, textured and powerful Double Plus (A++) sound throughout this Maroon Label Mercury Stereo pressing
  • The orchestra is big, rich and tubey, yet the dynamics and transparency are first rate
  • The first copy we got hold of was a good — our notes read: “Rich and full brass and strings”
  • I regret to say that unfortunately that puts this particular recording in the minority when it comes to Mercury’s 60s releases
  • This is the best sounding recording of the work that we know of, and the first recording of the Franck to hit the site in more than a decade
  • Some old record collectors (like me) say classical recording quality ain’t what it used to be – here’s all the proof anyone with two working ears and top quality audiophile equipment would need to make the case

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Wes Montgomery – Bumpin’

More of the Music of Wes Montgomery

  • Superb sound throughout, with both sides earning solid Double Plus (A++) grades
  • This vintage Verve stereo pressing is transparent, uncolored and undistorted, as well as tonally correct from top to bottom
  • With Don Sebesky‘s lively arrangements and a big group of musicians to play them, a good time is guaranteed for all
  • 4 1/2 stars: “Not only is his brilliant command of the six-string present here, so is the vivid color tones of notes and blue notes played between. Backed up by a hauntingly beautiful and mesmerizing orchestra conducted and arranged by Don Sebesky, the music almost lifts the listener off his feet into a dreamy, water-like landscape.”

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Thelonious Monk – Criss-Cross

More of the Music of Thelonious Monk

  • Here is a black print Stereo 360 Stereo pressing with STUNNING Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound or close to it from first note to last – fairly quiet vinyl too
  • Columbia records produced by Teo Macero in the early 60s have consistently open, natural sound – this one recorded in 63 is no exception
  • The piano sounds natural and dynamic, letting Monk’s passionate playing shine
  • 4 stars: “Thelonious Monk’s second album for Columbia Records features some of the finest work that Monk ever did in the studio with his 60s trio and quartet … This is prime Monk for any degree of listener.”

I wish more Blue Note records had this kind of sound — natural, full-bodied, and sweet up top. The bass here is well-defined with real weight and lots of punch. Monk’s piano sounds correct from the highest notes all the way down to the lower register, and the sax sounds tonally right on the money. The clarity and transparency are superb throughout. (more…)

Horace Silver – Blowin’ The Blues Away

More of the Music of Horace Silver

  • Incredible sound throughout this early 60s Blue Note Stereo pressing, with both sides earning Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades or close to them
  • A Must Own from Horace Silver, with the kind of sound that only the better vintage pressings can offer
  • If you don’t know his music, this is a good place to start
  • Another triumph for engineering maestro Rudy Van Gelder – he refined a “live-in-the-studio” jazz sound that still sounds fresh to this day, even after 67 years
  • Marks in the vinyl are sometimes the nature of the beast with these early pressings – there simply is no way around them if the superior sound of vintage analog is important to you
  • 4 1/2 stars: “Blowin’ The Blues Away is one of Horace Silver’s all-time Blue Note classics, only upping the ante established on Finger Poppin’ for tightly constructed, joyfully infectious hard bop… one of Silver’s finest albums, and it’s virtually impossible to dislike.”
  • If you’re a fan of Silver’s, this 1959 album belongs in your collection, along with quite a few others, if only we could find them
  • The complete list of titles from 1959 that we’ve reviewed to date can be found here.

The really good RVG pressings (often on the later labels) sound shockingly close to live music — uncompressed, present, full of energy, with the instruments clearly located on a wide and often deep soundstage, surrounded by the natural space and cool air of his New Jersey studio. As our stereo has improved, and we’ve found better pressings and learned how to clean them better, his “you-are-there” live jazz sound has come to impress us more and more. (more…)