Re-discovered albums

[Dan_ed]

Hi all,

I thought I'd share some of my re-discoveries that have caught my ear after making tweaks to the system.

Dire Straits Communique
I know this isn't a favorite of the critics, but turnoff the lights, sink into a comfy chair and drink this one in.

Caravan Cunning Stunts
Great prog-rock band.

Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris
All the Road Running Not so much a re-discovery as a recent discovery.

Emmylou, Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt Trio
This one never left my attention, but every time I think I've made a step forward in the resolution of my system this one always comes out to prove or disprove what I think I hear. If you can get this one right you'll really appreciate what a huge talent (no pun intended) Dolly was/is.

Weather Report Heavy Weather
I pulled this out after the recent passing of Joe Zawinul. Arguably the best album of the fusion era. This may be a good test of how fast a cartridge is. There's a lot of stuff going on from top to bottom.

Enjoy!

[galibier_numero_un]

I recently picked up that Emmylou/Knopfler record. It is amazing. Tonight (Friday) we're going to see Phil and Friends (Phil Lesh of the Grateful Dead).

On another topic, I've realized for some time that perhaps 75% of my classical records are utter garbage. This has nothing to do with retrieving or not retrieving what's in the groove, but rather the deafness of the engineer, producer, and mastering engineer. Big discovery, huh?

At one time, I considered my lack of enthusiasm (especially for large orchestral works and most opera) to be a personal shortcoming. I attributed some of my disdain for large scale works to the period when I was running full range, rear-loaded Lowthers. It was about then that my listening to large works dropped off severely. Some of this was indeed due to the speakers (which excel at string quartets, bluegrass, etc.). A single driver can get a bit confused when an orchestra goes full tutti.

I'm growing convinced that a much larger part of it was due to my getting a better view of how bad the engineer, producer and mastering engineer were. In many ways, most of the Classic Records reissues (picked up in the early 90's) offended me the most. Comparisons with the originals are generally laughable (there are exceptions). One can only assume that for the most part, they had good tapes to work with. What I hear is the sound of run of the mill, solid state cutting amps. If that's not the case, they're doing a fine job of mimicking them. I'm beginning to think that the good reissues ones are an accident.

Mike Sanders (Quicksilver Audio) and I had a conversation about this last week as I proceeded to pull out clunker after clunker to spin. Bad classical has always bothered him. He speaks from having been on the other side of the reproduction chain, having recorded the Reno Symphony when he lived there.

I've always been reluctant to toss out records, but in the coming months, I'm going to be ruthless about it. Life is too short to discover you're playing the same rotten record again and again (they say that memory is the second thing to go). Mike wants to take it one step further and keep a database of records he's tossed. He considers this more important than keeping track of the ones he owns. He's convinced that the records he chucks out will continually find their way back into his record collection if he isn't vigilant.

I have quite a few Phillips records which I have always gravitated to ... consistently as my system evolved from the mid-80's. A few that come to mind is a set of Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsodies (Michael Campenella on piano) and a pair of Boccarini's guitar concertos with Pepe Romero. Mike commented to me "maybe because Philips is so consistent?" He has no patience for incompetence. He likes Philips too.

Those records combining a decent recording and performance are grossly outnumbered by so much meaningless drek.

Cheers,
Thom

[ralph@artisan]

Hi all,

I thought I'd share some of my re-discoveries that have caught my ear after making tweaks to the system.

Dire Straits Communique
I know this isn't a favorite of the critics, but turnoff the lights, sink into a comfy chair and drink this one in.

Caravan Cunning Stunts
Great prog-rock band.

Weather Report Heavy Weather
I pulled this out after the recent passing of Joe Zawinul. Arguably the best album of the fusion era. This may be a good test of how fast a cartridge is. There's a lot of stuff going on from top to bottom.

Enjoy!

I don't give a damn about what the critics think. Dire Straits were always a great band - it's a miracle they made it - they were turning 30 at a time when punk rock was rampant. All their albums are classics and great to listen to again and again.

Caravan are a Canterbury band - you know the title is a spoonerism?

Heavy Weather is one of my favourites - side one is such a diverse, fun 20 minutes. It certainly puts a system through its paces.

My favourites:

Emerson Lake and Palmer - self-titled first album

Mott the Hoople - Brain Capers - better than the Stones and one of the hardest test of timing for an analogue rig

Herb Alpert - Rise - Herb goes disco - bass guitar pops n'all. Very dynamic, complex arrangements and rhythms, a challenging album to reproduce.

Cheers

Ralph

[galibier_numero_un]

I'll bring that Knopfler/Emmylou (All the Road Running) album to the show for you to hear, Ralph. It's downright magical.

I've always been so impressed not only with Dire Straits' musicianship but with their ability to deliver a quality recording. How they managed that when they were newcomers amazes me.

I just got back from seeing Phil and Friends (Phil Lesh of the Greatful Dead). This band he's put together is utterly amazing. Larry Campbell (one of the two guitarists) is in the Knopfler class as far as taste and technique. I don't pass these accolades around frivolously.

Since I started back with my guitar, I've regained my awareness of people's technique. What was interesting about Campbell is how "soft" his right wrist seemed when playing. Then again, I once saw Peter Townsend play with his normal precision ... with a cast on his right wrist.

Go figure ...

Cheers,
Thom

[ralph@artisan]

I'll look forward to hearing it Thom.

I'm planning on bringing Eleanor McEvoy's "Early Hours" LP which I heard and bought last weekend. I've also thought of a few other little gems I'd like to give an airing in your room.

Cheers

Ralph

[jazdoc]

Thanks to Thom for setting up the forum. It should be a great place to exchange ideas and music. Thanks for the tip on the Emmylou/Knopfler record. It would be great to know what others have been listening to... Currently in 'heavy rotation' at my house:

Vinyl:

The Leaders..."Mudfoot"
Great Jazz Band w/Lester Bowie, Kirk Lightsey Cecil McBee and others

Ralph Peterson Trio..."Triangular"
Fantastic drummer. Features Geri Allen on piano. "Bemsha Swing" is a highlight.

The Shins..."Wincing The Night Away"
Their latest and greatest. A great live band.

Scissor Sisters...Eponymous 1st Album
Funky pop music. What Elton John would sound like if he were 30 years younger (One of Elton's favorite bands)

Ry Cooder/Manuel Galban..."Mambo Sinuendo"
A atmospheric album in the same spirit as "Buena Vista Social Club" with great guitar work.

Stevie Wonder..."Talking Book"
180 gm re releaase. Includes: "Supersition"

CD:

Joshua Redman..."Back East"
If you've ever wanted a jazz version of "The Surrey with the Fringe on Top"!

Marisa Monte/Arnaldo Antunes/Carlinhos Brown..."Tribalistas"
Unbelievable record by a Brazilian pop/jazz singer. Personal favorite cut: "Carnavalia" This a well recorded CD and desert island disc worth seeking out.

Doc Cheatam/Nicholas Payton...Eponymous
Great interplay between an experienced master and young lion. Hightlights: "How Deep is the Ocean?" and "Jada"

Chano Dominguez..."Hecho a mano"
Incredible piano trio album of Brazilian jazz. Exceptional recording

Soundtrack of "The Departed"
To quote The Sopranos "A killer soundtrack"

Roberta Gambarini..."Easy to Love"
Impressive jazz vocalist and arranger. Well recorded disc.

Cheers,

Mark

[Salectric]

Let me add my thanks to Thom for setting up this forum. Hopefully, it will become a great resource for Galibier owners as well as others with similar tastes in equipment and music.

That said, let me first disagree with Thom's comments about becoming more selective regarding what records to play on our Galibier turntables. Thom referred to making plans to discard albums of mediocre sound quality, especially classical. I found that comment very curious because one of the many nice things I've noticed since getting my Galibier is that I enjoy listening to more of my records, not less. It's not that the Galibier is sugarcoating things so that I can't hear the nasty things in poor records. Quite the opposite. I can hear much more of what is actually on a record when I play it on my system today. Yet the Galibier seems somehow to emphasize the good things about each recording rather than making me more aware of shortcomings. The net result is that I connect more readily to the music than I did before. In fact, it occurred to me recently that I no longer have a mental list of "great sounding" records that I can pull out to show off the system. Somehow I don't think in those terms anymore.

I would also add that this extends beyond turntables. Any equipment change or tweak that causes you to listen less often, or to not want to listen to certain types of music, is a step in the wrong direction IMO. I faced that issue a number of years ago with speakers. My old Martin Logan CLS speakers could sound fantastic on certain records and with certain music, but I found I never listened to rock records or large-scale classical anymore because they didn't sound as good. Fortunately, I came to my senses and now I have Spendors. They don't transport me to the highest heights that the CLS could occasionally do, but they basically sound good all the time and with all types of music. My equipment no longer influences what type of music I listen to.

Anyway, back to Dan-Ed's topic. With the Galibier in my system, I have indeed re-discovered some old recordings in my collection. It turns out that some records that I had previously dismissed as not sounding very good actually just needed a higher-resolution phono system. A couple examples:

**Art Farmer Quartet Featuring Jim Hall--Live at the Half Note--Atlantic 90666-1. I had always enjoyed the music on this record but it seemed too murky and soft sounding. At times the audience noise was too distracting. Today I realize this record actually sounds very good, and with the greater resolving power of my current phono system, the audience noise is not at all distracting; it somehow just adds to the overall feeling of being in the club with the musicians.

**George Shearing--San Francisco Scene--Capitol ST 1715. Another live recording. I have played this one for over 40 years. I love the music, but I used to think that the recording was mediocre. It seemed that the mikes were too far from the musicians, so that the music was too dark and murky, and the audience seemed to be missing until the end of each selection when they would clap. It was as if the clapping was dubbed in after the fact. How wrong that was! With the Galibier and other upgrades, I am now easily able to hear/feel the presence of the audience throughout the music. There is now a seamless acoustic space in which the musicians and the audience are all enjoying the music with me. The miking is a bit distant compared to close-miked studio recordings, but there is no question now that the engineers for the Shearing recording knew exactly what they were doing.

Here are some other records that I really enjoy. They combine good music with good sound, and they are all readily available courtesy of Ebay.

**Ron Carter and Jim Hall--Live at the Village West--Concord CJ 245.

**Marian McPartland--At the Festival--Concord CJ 118.

**Montgomery Brothers in Canada--OJC 283.

**Gerry Mulligan and Chet Baker--Carnegie Hall Concert Vol. 1--CTI 6054-S1.

**The Guitar Album--Columbia KG 31045.

**Kenny Burrell--Live at the Village Vanguard--Muse MR 5216.

**Nina Simone at Town Hall--Colpix CP 409.

**Henry Mancini--The Blues and The Beat--RCA LSP 2147.

And let me also list some classical records, so as not to leave the impression that I only listen to jazz.

**Vaughan Williams--Tuba Concerto DGG 2530-906.

**Virgil Thomson--The Plow that Broke the Plains--Angel 37300.

**Penderecki--Pittsburgh Overture--DGG 2530-063

**Bartok--Concerto for Orchestra--DGG 2531-269

**Mahler Symphony No. 2--Abbado--DGG 2707-094

**Elgar--Dream of Gerontius--Britten--Loondon OSA 1293

Ebay has really opened up a whole new world. It allows me to buy somewhat obscure records from the 50's to the present, and while they are used and sometimes have some distortion or noise they are by and large very listenable. The Galibier lets me enjoy less than pristine records more than my other tables. If a record has noise, then it will still have noise on the Galibier, but it just doesn't interfere with my enjoying the music to the degree that it did with my VPI or Thorens tables.

Enough from me.

Good luck on the Forum.

Dave

[galibier_numero_un]

Thanks Dave, … and thanks as usual for articulating our shared thoughts better than I did. This forum is going to be a whole lot of fun.

Surely, the breakthrough thinking we both made about system building (not limited to turntables) was that any system improvement will make you want to listen to your hi-fi more rather than less - that a true increase in resolution doesn't accomplish this by sugarcoating the playback.

You and I know that this is not a trivial concept. How long have we been messing with our hi-fis and been conflicted when considering a component that made our best recordings sound great and our lesser ones unlistenable? Of course, we now know that these are false choices. In a logic class, it might be termed to be a "category error" … any philosophy majors out there? It's been quite a few years.

I think my problem with my classical collection is one of having acquired a fair proportion (40% ?) based on bad advice. Some 90% of my pressings from a certain company with the word "Classic" in its name are dreadful. Run of the mill labels generally sound from o.k. to wonderful. The major bone I have to pick is with this re-issue company, and perhaps I over generalized about my collection.

After the audiofest, I may box up some of my worst offenders and ship them to you for your commentary ... as if you have the time to listen to bad records. I'd be curious to hear your comments. Maybe we can circulate them to Dan, Richard, and Doug while we're at it.

Surely with the reissues, this comes from bad mastering technique and choice of equipment (cutting amps, mastering deck, etc.). The kind of things I'm hearing can't be due to the degeneration of the master tape (etched highs, for example).

Now, whenever you're talking quality, you have to consider the pressing plant. I've heard varying results from the RTI pressing plant for example. Some companies seem to get better results from RTI. This topic merits its own thread.

I'd love to hear Mothra's and/or Nick Doshi's comments on this when he joins the forum. I'll point him to this thread.

I'm not at home at the moment, and would rather play these records before commenting, but in addition to just about every Philips record I own, I have some wonderful EMI's (Kathleen Battle, Nadja Solerno Sonnenberg come to mind) as well as a host of others. My RCA Red Seals are generally quite good. A copy of Carmen (with Jan Pierce) comes to mind. My Angels and Londons are in general quite nice.

In the "audiophile world", I have a few Harmonia Mundi records recorded by Peter McGrath. The Corelli "Concerto Grosso" is absolutely wonderful. I've loved this record throughout the evolution of my hi-fi. Some other Harmonia Mundi's are quite forgettable - not so bad as to remember the title ... more in the mediocre category.

Over the coming months, I'm going to work my way through this part of my collection to see if I'm overstating the above.

I'm sympathetic to the fact that large, classical works present the greatest challenge to the engineers, but when a record company brags about its quality, and then falls short of a mainstream company like Philips, I have a major bone to pick due to expectations being set too high.

There are some tortured 'philes out there who obsess over surface noise. While a quiet surface is ideal (and Galibiers sure do make records sound as quiet as I've ever heard them), a noisy surface or an errant tick or pop doesn't disqualify a record from consideration for me.

As far as enjoable, noisy, mainstream records, I have a favorite which I frequently pull out - my $0.50 copy of the first Hot Tuna (acoustic) album. This has Jorma and Jack wailing away on their own tunes as well as a few traditional ones from Reverend Gary Davis and others. Throughout my system's evolution, I've longed for a good version of this Dynagroove recording from 1971. Well, I long no more, and I sit back and enjoy one of my favorite records of all time immensely.

I've never entered into the game that many play - acquiring all of the guide books to the great Deccas, RCA's etc. because frankly I won't enter the sweepstakes for $300 records on eBay. Audio doesn't make me rich enough to do so.

I am interested in diamonds in the rough - those little known companies with unknown artists who put out a product that delivers the goods. A buddy who recently resumed learning the cello has stumbled on a few small Russian labels. I'll ask him to post some of his findings on this forum.

Cheers,
Thom

[Dan_ed]

I am dumbfounded, or just plain dumb! A couple of my neighbor buddies stopped by yesterday for a listen. I usually let them pull out what they want to hear. Well, neighbor Mike pulls out a record and says "hey, I remember seeing this concert live in Germany. Let's hear it." Turns out to be an original pressing of Jethro Tull's This Was. It has a few scratches but this has turned out to be one of the albums I'll cherish for many years. This is a superbly recorded album. We were all three slacked jawed by the end, so we played the entire album again.

[Dan_ed]

Well. I completely blew the impact of that last post. Some of you may be wondering what I'm full of.

The album was STAND UP! Something we all must do from time to time.