
- Insanely good sound from start to finish for this ABC pressing with both sides earning Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades
- These sides were noticeably richer than most of the copies we played, which generally tended to be lean and dry
- We played a big pile of these, but finding the Tubey Magical, spacious, sweet ANALOG sound we were after was not easy
- Fortunately this copy showed us that it indeed was possible to get the clear, breathy vocals necessary to bring out the wonderful harmonies these two are so rightly famous for
- “Wind on the Water has an instant classic, lived-in sound and is a definite must-have.” – All Music, 4 Stars
Music Does the Driving
As a budding audiophile I went out of my way to acquire any piece of equipment that could make these records from the ’70s (the decade of my formative music-buying years) sound better than the gear I was then using. It’s the challenging recordings by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, as well as scores of other pop and rock artists like them, that drove my pursuit of higher quality audio, starting all the way back in high school.
And here I am — here we are — still at it, forty years later, because the music still sounds fresh and original, and the pressings that we find get better and better with each passing year.
That kind of progress is proof that we’re doing it right. It’s a good test for any audiophile. If you are actively and seriously pursuing this hobby, perhaps as many as nine out of ten non-audiophile pressings in your collection should sound better with each passing year. As your stereo improves, not to mention your critical listening skills, the shortcomings of some will be revealed, but for the most part, vintage pressings should sound better each time you play them with continual refinements and improvements to your system, room and cleaning techniques.
That’s what makes it fun to play old records: They just keep getting better!
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