Hot Stamper Pressings of Contemporary Jazz Albums Available Now
For us audiophiles both the sound and the music here are enchanting. If you’re looking to demonstrate just how good a 1959 All Tube Analog recording can sound, this killer copy will do the trick.
The sound of the muted trumpet on side two is out of this world.
It has exactly the sonic signature of good tube equipment — the ability to make some elements of a recording sound shockingly real. There are tradeoffs with tube mastering to be sure, a subject we discuss in some depth here.
The trumpet is also a very good test for turntable setup, tracking, as well as arm and cartridge compatability. You’ve got to be set up properly for every aspect for a difficult-to-reproduce instrument like the trumpet to sound right.
Accurate VTA adjustment is critical to the record reproduction. If you do not have an arm that allows you to easily adjust its VTA, then you will just have to do it the hard way (which normally means loosening a set screw and moving the arm up and down until you get lucky with the right height).
Yes, it may be time consuming, it may even be a major pain in the ass, but there is no question in my mind that you will hear a dramatic improvement in the sound of your records once you have learned to precisely adjust the VTA for each and every one of them.
VTA is not a corner anyone should be cutting.
Careful adjustment of VTA is critical to getting good sound.
Of course, so are anti-skate, azimuth and tracking weight.