greg@olivej.UUCP (Greg Paley) (08/29/84)
QUESTION: Should we post the type of statements that other net writers want to read and will make us popular or should we post the truth as we see it (or hear it)? A friend invited me and my wife to his house last night to hear his new system. Magneplanar Tympani IV (approx $4000), top-of-the line Threshold power amp (also approx $4000), Yamaha C70 preamp (I know, Phil, "What's that doing there?"), Koetsu Black cartridge, Revox A77 open-reel deck, Revox CD player. Actually, only the speakers, power amp and CD player were new. The CD's we heard sounded really fine. They included the Telarc "Carmina Burano", the Solti recording of excerpts from Prokofiev's "Romeo and Juliet" (London) and a Philips CD of Debussy orchestral works conducted by Colin Davis. These didn't suffer from the edginess and stridency that plagued earlier digital releases and there was some detectable ambience. Two analogue LP's blew the socks off of all of these, though. I know this makes me a "golden ears" in the worst sense (although my wife and friends felt the same - my friend rather disgustedly so after purchasing the CD player). Not only was there the much-discussed "ambience" but the vividness of detail, apparent dynamic range (I know the specs say that the actual dynamic range must be reduced), and an awesome sense of "presence" that made the CD's sound pallid, but only by direct comparison. The LP's were the Dorati/Minneapolis recording of Kodaly's "Hary Janos" (Mercury SR-90132) and the Reiner/Chicago recording of Stravinsky's "Song of the Nightingale" (RCA Victor LSC-2150). "NO FAIR, both of these are out of print, how can you prove it?" In print, and yielding similar results are the London recording of the complete Prokofiev "Romeo and Juliet" with Maazel and the Cleveland Orchestra, and the Philips "Golden Imports" reissues of Stravinsky's "Firebird" (Dorati/London Symphony) and various orchestral works of Ravel, including "La Valse" by Paray/Detroit (incredibly trashy music, by the way), which are NOT typical of the Golden Imports series (I suggest avoiding the rest). The real shocker: both the "Hary Janos" and the "Song of the Nightingale" were recorded in November, 1956 (but, of course, in genuine stereo). Unless you have actually heard one or more of the analogue recordings mentioned on decent equipment (which doesn't need to be megabuck - I can hear the difference on my Grace/ Hafler/Vandersteen setup), please don't bother to flame. If you are convinced old recordings can't really be that good, spend $5 for the Ravel reissue and hear for yourself. If you are like many and don't WANT to believe the old recordings not only can sound as good, but can be significantly better than the current State of the Art, you'd be best to avoid those mentioned. If you want to argue on the basis of specifications, I'm sorry - I'm not an oscilloscope and I don't hear like one. If this does make me one of the much-to-be-pitied "Golden Ears", THANK GOD. - Greg Paley