- Seriously good Living Stereo sound throughout this 70s reissue pressing, with both sides earning solid Double Plus (A++) grades
- It took us close to ten years to track down enough originals as well as the right reissues — so many to choose from, and so many of them just awful sounding — to get our most recent shootout going
- Both of these sides are remarkably clean and clear with wonderful size, clarity and transparency, with real texture to the instruments and an abundance of energy
- Of all the reissues we played, this one sounded the best, which came as a (costly) surprise
- The sax sounds right, and played loud enough it’s almost as if you’re hearing the real instrument and not just a recording of one
- 4 1/2 stars: “The interplay between Rollins and [guitarist Jim] Hall is consistently impressive, making this a near-classic and a very successful comeback.”
rca-best
Respighi / Pines of Rome – Our Favorite for Performance and Sound
More Music Conducted by Fritz Reiner
- This Shaded Dog pressing of Reiners’s excellent 1960 recording had the glorious Living Stereo sound we were looking for
- 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
- There were only three performances with audiophile quality sound in our shootout, and the Shaded Dog pressings not only had the best performances, but the sound that the team of Mohr/Layton managed to achieve was second to none
- In other words, Harry was right to put this on his TAS Super Disc list – it really is a super disc
- If you know anything about these works, you know that have tons of top and bottom end, and it is the rare pressing that can capture both
- The texture and harmonic overtones of the Living Stereo strings are near perfection – as we listened we became completely immersed in the music on the record, transfixed by the remarkable virtuosity Reiner and the CSO brought to these difficult and demanding works so many years ago
- There are roughly 150 orchestral recordings that we think offer the discriminating audiophile the best combination of superior performances with top quality sound. This record has moer than earned a place on that list.
This shootout has been at least five years in the making, and the case could be made that something like fifteen is closer to the truth. Around 2016 we surveyed the recordings of the work we had on hand — close to a dozen different performances, I think — and found them all wanting, save three: this one (which is still on the TAS list), a Reader’s Digest pressing with Kempe (our second favorite), and a London with Kertesz.
If a particular performance had any distortion or limitation problems in the higher frequencies, it was quickly rejected out of hand. Same with low end whomp and weight. On these works both are crucial.
No other pieces of music of which we are aware have so much going on up high and down low. This narrowed the field of potential Hot Stampers considerably. Great performances by top conductors could not get over these hurdles — high and low — time and time again.
For these reasons, it took us years to find the right recordings. We knew the Reiner would be hard to beat, but we kept trying record after record hoping that we could find one to wrest the crown away from what is widely considered the greatest recording of the works ever made.
We never did find something better. Our best Shaded Dog ended up winning the shootout. The best RCA pressings were doing everything right. There was plenty of top end, with virtually no harmonic distortion, and when I say plenty, I mean the right amount. Not many engineers managed to get all the highs correctly onto the tape, but Lewis Layton nailed it — in 1960!
So many recordings had screechy strings and horns. When the music would get loud — and both the Pines and the Fountains get very loud indeed, assuming the recording will let it — the sound would become unbearably harsh and unpleasant. This is the opposite of what should happen, and it was obvious that those recordings would not make it past the first round.
All three of the finalists could claim enthusiastic performances with powerful energy and top quality orchestral playing. Still, with the best copies going head to head with each other, Reiner had more of all the qualities we were looking for.
How did the famous 1S/1S pressing fare? No idea. I haven’t seen one in twenty years. It may be better than the White Hot copy we are offering here. I certainly would not make the mistake of saying what it sounds like without having played it. If someone has one and wants to send it to me to audition, I would love to give it a spin.
Some recordings we played lacked transparency, as well as the relaxed sense of involvement that eases one’s ability to be tricked into thinking “you (really) are there.”
The famous 1977 Maazel recording for Decca, which was on the TAS List for a long time, suffered from a bad case of multi-miking and the transparency issue mentioned above. What do you expect from 1977?
This is, of course, the knock on the Modern Heavy Vinyl Pressing — where is the transparency? The space? The three-dimensional depth? If your stereo can reproduce these qualities — a big if, since even as recently as twenty years ago mine could not — you should have given up on these opaque and airless frauds years ago.
Sonny Rollins – The Bridge
- An original pressing of the The Bridge debuts on the site, here with INSANELY GOOD Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) Demo Disc Living Stereo sound throughout
- It has taken us close to ten years to track down enough orginals (and reissues) to get this shootout going, and the very high price of this copy reflects the work that went into finding it
- Although the best originals will always win our shootouts, the early reissues from 1975 with the later cover can sound quite good – ten years ago those were the ones that won our shootout, but now we know better
- Here’s just one of the things we had to say about this killer copy in our notes: “Tubey and sweet and silk all over. Perfect.”
- The sax sounds just right, and played loud enough it’s almost as if you’re hearing the real instrument and not just a recording of it
- 4 1/2 stars: “The interplay between Rollins and [guitarist Jim] Hall is consistently impressive, making this a near-classic and a very successful comeback.”
Chet Atkins / Christmas with Chet Atkins
More Chet Atkins
Reviews and Commentaries for the Music of Chet Atkins
- Christmas with Chet Atkins is finally back on the site after a two year hiatus, here with INCREDIBLE Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) Living Stereo sound throughout this original pressing
- Both of these sides are shockingly clean, clear, spacious and present with plenty of bottom end weight
- You won’t believe how natural, rich, tonally correct and Tubey Magical this copy is – until you play it, of course
- Our best copies had both the original Living Stereo label (1961) and the later Stereo label (1965) – the lucky buyer of this copy will discover which pressing earned these grades when he gets it on his turntable
- 4 1/2 stars: “One of the most underrated holiday platters of all-time… this disc should be rated up there with such fodder as Charlie Brown Christmas. Gorgeous.”
Without a doubt this has to be the best sounding Christmas record we have for sale. Sleigh Ride sounds amazing but, as you can see in the reviews for his other classic recordings, most everything sounds amazing on these Bill Porter engineered Chet Atkins records.
Tubey Magical acoustic guitar reproduction is superb on the better copies of this recording. Simply phenomenal amounts of Tubey Magic can be heard on every strum, along with richness, body and harmonic coherency that have all but disappeared from modern recordings (and especially from modern remasterings).
Everything But The Beer / Arthur Fiedler Conducts A Boston Pops Concert
More Classical and Orchestral Recordings
More Living Stereo Recordings
- These original Shaded Dog pressings boast big, bold, and dynamic Nearly Triple Plus (A++ to A+++) Living Stereo sound from first note to last – just shy of our Shootout Winner (side four actually won the shootout)
- Compared to practically every other copy we played — on all four sides mind you — these sides are richer, fuller, and livelier. They’re also more open and transparent, with notably improved clarity, less smear, and better bass
- 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 records
- We have been trying to do this title for at least ten years – clean originals are hard to find and that is a reality that will not be going away anytime soon
Much of what’s good about Golden Age recordings is here, with these sides having the sound of a huge hall and that Three-Dimensional quality that the best vintage recordings convey so well.
We constantly knock Heavy Vinyl here at Better Records for the simple reason that we play vintage recordings such as these by the score every month and can hear what they do. Unfortunately the huge hall and the 3-D soundstaging they effortlessly reproduce cannot be found on any Heavy Vinyl pressing we know of.
Such qualities allow this record to sound — in some ways, to be sure not all — like live music.
Prokofiev / Piano Concerto No. 3 / Cliburn
More of the music of Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953)
Reviews and Commentaries for the Music of Sergei Prokofiev
- An early Shaded Dog pressing of these wonderful performances by pianist Van Cliburn and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Walter Hendl, here with INSANELY GOOD Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) Living Stereo sound from first note to last
- Both of these sides boast full brass and an especially clear, solid, present piano, one with practically no trace of vintage analog tube smear
- Most of the Van Cliburn recordings for RCA that we’ve played over the years did not sound very good to us, which is why you haven’t seen one our site since 2005 (!)
- Back in the days when the TAS Super Disc List meant something, this record was on it and deservedly so
- To read the 60-odd reviews and commentaries we’ve written for piano concertos, please click here
- The best sounding piano concerto records that we’ve auditioned to date can be found here
Sons of the Pioneers – Cool Water
More of The Sons of the Pioneers
More Country
- A Cool Water like you’ve never heard, with seriously good Double Plus (A++) Living Stereo sound throughout this vintage pressing
- These sides have a richness and sweetness that’s disappeared entirely from modern recordings yet they’re still incredibly clean, clear and spacious
- If you want to know why people love Living Stereo records, playing either side of this record should be all the convincing anyone would ever need
- 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
- “The original release, issued at the height of the stereophile boom of the late 1950s, was a vivid display of close, intimate presence and discreet channel separation.”
This vintage RCA Black Label Living Stereo LP has two excellent sides, making this without a doubt one of the better sounding pressing we have ever had the distinct pleasure to play! We were as shocked to hear this copy as you will no doubt be (if you end up with it of course).
And the music — sophisticated arrangements of western classics featuring the group’s trademark harmonies — has maintained its charm remarkably well since 1959, more than sixty years after this All Tube recording was made. The orchestra and the male singers sound so natural you’ll wonder what the hell modern recording engineers think they’re up to. Engineers apparently knew how to make good recordings in 1959 — this record is all the proof you need — so what excuse can they possibly have for the dismal dreck they’ve been turning out for the last 30+ years?
The woodwinds here have that lovely airy, breathy quality that they do in real life. The singer’s voices are rich and full. The presentation is relaxed and involving. When’s the last time you heard a modern record with any of those qualities? Do you think the people recording Patricia Barber appreciate qualities such as these in a vocal recording? My ears tells me they don’t.
But there’s no point complaining about the modern world and its manifest shortcomings. Let’s be thankful that these wonderful records, recorded with such skill and care, still exist.
And that Better Records can offer you superb sounding pressings of them like this one.
Perez Prado – Big Hits By Prado
More Living Stereo Recordings
More Easy Listening Recordings
- This original RCA stereo pressing boasts KILLER Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) Living Stereo sound or close to it from first note to last – fairly quiet vinyl too
- Spacious and transparent, this copy has the three-dimensional soundstaging and layered depth that makes these kinds of records such a joy to play
- There is plenty on offer for the discriminating audiophile, with the spaciousness, clarity, tonality and freedom from artificiality that are hallmarks of the better Living Stereo recordings
- “Big Hits actually is a powerhouse anthology: the first definitive, stereo collection of mambo hits. All were re-recorded for stereo in ‘new arrangements’ as the jacket advertises… easy to find [but not in audiophile playing condition with sound this good] and very worthwhile.”
*NOTE: On side 1, there is a mark that plays 5 times lightly near the start of track 4 on side 1, “Guaglione.” On side 2, there is a mark that plays 8 times at a light to moderate level at the end of track 3, “Ruletero.”
This copy of Big Hits By Prado has a lot in common with the other Decca and Living Stereo titles we’ve listed over the years, albums by the likes of Henry Mancini, Esquivel, Dick Schory, Edmundo Ros, Arthur Lyman and a handful of others. Talk about making your speakers disappear, these records will do it!
An album like this is all about Tubey Magical Stereoscopic presentation. For us audiophiles, both the sound and the music here are enchanting. If you’re looking to demonstrate just how good 1960 All Tube Analog sound can be, this killer copy may be just the record for you.
This pressing is super spacious, sweet and positively dripping with ambience. Talk about Tubey Magic, the liquidity of the sound here is positively uncanny. This is vintage analog at its best, so full-bodied and relaxed you’ll wonder how it ever came to be that anyone seriously contemplated trying to improve it.
This IS the sound of Tubey Magic. No recordings will ever be made like this again, and no CD will ever capture what is in the grooves of this record. There may well be a CD of this album, but those of us in possession of a working turntable and a good collection of vintage vinyl could care less.
Stravinsky / The Rite of Spring – The Ultimate Recording of the Work
More of the music of Igor Stravinsky
- An outstanding Shaded Dog pressing with superb sound from start to finish
- Perhaps the greatest performance ever, certainly our favorite for performance and sound – this is not an easy piece of music to record judging by how many awful sounding versions exist — we should know, we played them
- Monteux knows the work as well as anyone — he himself conducted the premier in 1913!
- Mind boggling in its power to move the listener – a classic Decca Tree recording from 1956 by the master, Mr. Kenneth Wilkinson
- There are about 150 orchestral recordings we’ve awarded the honor of having the best performances with top quality sound, and this recording certainly deserve a place on that list, close to the top I would think
It takes us three years — and a lot of hard work and a fair amount of luck — to get a shootout like this going.
The tympani and bass drum on this recording have few equals in our experience. This is the way HUGE and POWERFUL drums sound in concert. Those of you who go to classical concerts regularly will recognize that sound immediately. You probably also know that finding Golden Age recordings with this kind of deep bass is unusual to say the least.
The space and dynamic power of these sides are really something to hear on this groundbreaking work. Lush when quiet, clear and undistorted when loud, not many copies of Rite of Spring can do what these two sides can.
Bruch / Vieuxtemps – Scottish Fantasy / Concerto No. 5 / Heifetz
More Classical Recordings Featuring the Violin
- Boasting two Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) Living Stereo sides, this early Shaded Dog pressing of these wonderful Romantic works could not be beat
- The Heifetz Scottish Fantasy on side two is our favorite and contains the best sound we know for the work
- The orchestral passages are rich and sweet, the violin present, all of its harmonics gloriously intact
- As usual for a Living Stereo Heifetz violin recording, he is front and center, with every movement of his bow reproduced clearly, without being hyped-up in the least
- 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
- We will have some Super Hots coming soon for those of you looking for quieter vinyl
If you want to demonstrate the magic of Living Stereo recordings, jump right to the second movement of the Bruch. The sonority of the massed strings is to die for. When Heifetz enters, the immediacy of his violin further adds to the transcendental quality of the experience. Sonically and musically it doesn’t get much better than this, on Living Stereo or anywhere else.
The violin is captured beautifully on side two. More importantly, there is a lovely lyricism in Heifetz’s playing which suits Bruch’s Romantic work perfectly. I know of no better performance.
The Bruch brings to mind some of Tchaikovsky’s works. It’s so sweet and melodic, it completely draws you into its world of sound. This is a work of unsurpassed beauty, music that belongs in any serious classical collection.
The performance of the Vieuxtemps Concerto No. 5 is also wonderful, and the Romantic music is even better than I remember it from our last shootout.