Reference Recordings

[MylesBAstor]

OK, couldn't figure out where this post should go Didn't exactly shoehorn into the classical, jazz, etc sections. So being one of the t'table mods, I've taken the liberty of kicking off this section a list of some of my reference LPs that I use when reviewing equipment. This is a dynamic list and hopefully will be posting more additions on a regular schedule. (I also want to down the road, post those reissues that I think are particularly outstanding!).

Ali Akbar Khan: Master Musician of India Connoisseur Society (45 and 33 rpm versions) CS462
Ameniya: Summer Prayer RCA RVC-2154
Arnold: Symphony #1/Sarabande/Beckus Arnold/Bournemouth EMI ASD 3823 (original issue)
Bach: French Suites Thurston Dart Clavichord L’Oiseau-Lyre SOL 60039
Bach: Quodlibet Telefunken SAWT 9457-A
Beethoven: Moonlight Sonata/Pathetique Moravec Connoisseur Society CS1566
Bill Evans Trio at Shelly’s Manne-Hole Analogue Production (45 rpm) AP 9487
Britten: Peter Grimes Britten/Chorus and Orchestra, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
Decca SXL 2150-2 (original ED1)
Britten: Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra Britten/LSO/ECO Decca SXL 6450 (original issue)
Cassandra Wilson: New Moon Daughter Blue Note7243 8 37183 1 3
Cat Stevens: Tea for the Tillerman Island ILPS 9135
Clarinet Summit India Navigation IN 1062
Deep Purple: Live at the BBC MsMusic/Audio Fidelity MUS (2) 003
Dire Straits: Love Over Gold Vertigo 6359109
Donovan: Storyteller MsMusic/Audio Fidelity (2) 001 w/special 45 rpm
Johnny Cash: American Recordings American Recordings 5101 12792-2
June Tabor: Aqaba Topic Records 12TS 449
Mahler: Symphony #3 Solti/LSO Decca Set 385-6
Mallets, Melody and Mayhem Saul Goodman Columbia CS8333
Picaflor: Latin American Music for Guitar and Mandolin Titanic Mn-5
Ragtime Razmatazz Vol. 1 Mark Welch Wilson Records W808 (great for VTA setting)
Rashomon Carlton Records STLPX 5000
Rickie Lee Jones: it’s like this (45 rpm) Analogue Productions 51056
Power of the Orchestra Leibowitz RCA VCS 2659 (original SD issue)
Sounds Unheard of Contemporary Shelly Manne and Jack Marshall (original issue) S9006
Varese: Arcana/Integrales/Ionisation Decca SXL 6550 (original issue)
Yes: Fragile Analogue Productions 7211

I'd love for everyone here to chime in and add their favorites so that we might make a recommended LP list down the road!

[kach22i]

My list is in the Tube section under the EL34 review.

I'll Copy & Paste it later when I have more time. I know I left things out, and not quite the variety of yours Myles. Perhaps my quest for extremes and dynamics in the tube review left out some mellower classic/classical recordings.

[Steve Williams]

Terrific list Myles. I have most of those in my library (digital only).

[jadis]

Here a few that I use to evaluate my own audio gears:

1. Carol Kidd - All My Tomorrows (Aloi Records)
2. James Newton Howard & Friends - Sheffiled Lab
3. Cantate Domino (Proprius Records)
4. La Fille Mal Gardee - (Decca Wide Band 1st pressing) SXL 2313
5. Weavers - Reunion at Carnegie Hall (Vanguard VSD 2150
6. Beethoven - Appassionata (RDC - 4)
7. Morricone - C'era Una Volta Il West (Italian RCA)
8. Don Shirley - Water Boy (Cadence Records)
9. Music for Double Bass (EMI ASD 3264)
10. Dafos - Reference Recordings RR 12
11.Ortofon Test Record 003 (All music compilation by Orotofon)

[Steve Williams]

I have many of these but must agree about #3,5 10

Most audiophiles have Cantate Domino in every format

[MylesBAstor]

I have many of these but must agree about #3,5 10

Most audiophiles have Cantate Domino in every format

Funny thing about the Weavers. I have a 15 ips tape copy of the recording and for as good as it sounds, Vanguard essentially emasculated the recording. Basically, Vanguard decided to roll off the low frequencies on the recording, conceivably in fear of it causing the cartridge to mistrack. On the tape version, one hears them stomping around the stage, etc; in fact, the first time I heard it, I thought there was something wrong with my system. And of course with that, comes just an incredible sense of Carnegie Hall at its best!

Now I don't know what the digital version of this recording sounds like in the lower frequencies? Anybody have it on CD?

[Steve Williams]

I have the gold CD version of the album

[Mike Lavigne]

Funny thing about the Weavers. I have a 15 ips tape copy of the recording and for as good as it sounds, Vanguard essentially emasculated the recording. Basically, Vanguard decided to roll off the low frequencies on the recording, conceivably in fear of it causing the cartridge to mistrack. On the tape version, one hears them stomping around the stage, etc; in fact, the first time I heard it, I thought there was something wrong with my system. And of course with that, comes just an incredible sense of Carnegie Hall at its best!

Now I don't know what the digital version of this recording sounds like in the lower frequencies? Anybody have it on CD?

the Classic Records 45rpm box set does reveal all the stomping around the stage; lots of foot tapping and amazing spacial layout of the soundstage. i've got the CD but have not played it in years. 'Guantanamero' on the 45 is a frequent reference for soundstaging and naturalness. the box set comes with 2 separate copies of that cut (on 2 separate discs).

i'd love to hear the 15ips.

[jadis]

I have many of these but must agree about #3,5 10

Most audiophiles have Cantate Domino in every format

True. I am a Proprius fan. Kept a handful of them. Like Respighi's 'Oratorio Noel', 'Kornet Har Sin Vila', 'Kor', 'Jazz at the Pawnshop', 'Antiphone Blues', 'Good Vibes at the Pawnshop', and my latest find 'Mellnas (the soprano in Cantate Domino) and the Visby Band' performing Ellington works,etc. The last one is the only Proprius LP I know cut at 45 RPM. It's a beauty.

[JackD201]

I'm a Proprius fan too thanks to you. I find Opus 3 to be a very eratic mixed bag though. I had the opportunity to hear the Upsalla University Choir in Karlstad a few years ago and they were quite as good as their predecessors from the 70s. I must say however that the UP Madrigal Singers would pretty much eat them for breakfast. Come to think of it the group has won far more competitions, so much so that they've been suspended just to give others a chance. Now if only we could get a stellar recording of theirs..........hmmmmmm..........there's a thought. If I can't get one....make one.