Zero Distortion: Tango Time

The 1965 Solti is widely considered one of the best Opera recordings...surprised you think it is not. I found the localization of the singing to be superb and especially the depth in the recording and the fact that you can clearly hear the performers are behind the orchestra as is standard for Opera where the orchestra is down in a pit in front of the stage.

I really don't get how that's behind. Also for operas I sit above and opposite the stage, so I am looking down at both from a distance and they should both be reaching me at the same time.

Orchestral seating is usually different and back and front can more easily be sensed
 
I really don't get how that's behind. Also for operas I sit above and opposite the stage, so I am looking down at both from a distance and they should both be reaching me at the same time.

Orchestral seating is usually different and back and front can more easily be sensed

The orchestra is in a pit in front of the stage...at least at every opera i have attended. You might be looking from the side or wherever but the orchestra is still in front and below the stage.
 
That Solti was hard sounding and far from refine. Seem like they used very few microphones. Vocal singing on the right then switch to the left flavor the play well but the whole presentation is width limited and baffle me the localization of what is where. I would not consider it a good recording.


Considered to be one of the top 50 recordings of all-time.

 
I really don't get how that's behind. Also for operas I sit above and opposite the stage, so I am looking down at both from a distance and they should both be reaching me at the same time.

Orchestral seating is usually different and back and front can more easily be sensed


I see what you mean from the side it is a similar distance but if you are in the middle then the orchestra is clearly in front and below the stage. I am assuming a recording would be made with that perspective and not from the side.
 
The orchestra is in a pit in front of the stage...at least at every opera i have attended. You might be looking from the side or wherever but the orchestra is still in front and below the stage.

Yes it is below and slightly in front. So if I am at a distance opposite the stage and up, both are below me, the pit even below the singers, but a bit in front. So at a distance the sounds come together. In an opera, unlike in an orchestra, I am not in row 10ish in the stalls where all performers are in front of me, going front to back, and where individual sound points are more easily differentiable.
 
Yes it is below and slightly in front. So if I am at a distance opposite the stage and up, both are below me, the pit even below the singers, but a bit in front. So at a distance the sounds come together. In an opera, unlike in an orchestra, I am not in row 10ish in the stalls where all performers are in front of me, going front to back, and where individual sound points are more easily differentiable.
I tend to sit in the middle when possible as it gives the best balance of sound and vision of the performers.
 
I tend to sit in the middle when possible as it gives the best balance of sound and vision of the performers.

That depends on hall as ROH is a bit weird. I guess the one in Zurich, which I have been to what you say can work better.
 
You must have the Sheffield album so you very much understand what I said about the treble of the system need to be clean to listen this album without ear ache. Thank you very much Tima for directing to interesting orchestral music. I will look into those pieces. My preference is actually more in Mahler and Bruckner. I think they have more interesting works than Wagner.

Tima. I was listening to this Bruckner 9 with my current setup. I would say this could be the best orchestral recording I have ever heard.


Tang, do you have a video of your system playing this great recording of Bruckner’s 9th? Your videos are excellent.
 
Tang, do you have a video of your system playing this great recording of Bruckner’s 9th? Your videos are excellent.
Hi Peter,

The Bruckner 9 really have to be listened the whole piece. It is not an exciting piece that would continuously move you for 3-4 minutes. Instead there is calmness, rise n fall, in it that some how sucks listener into the flow of his musical telling. This particular recording is wonderful in so many ways. I get more sense of being in that hall attending that concert with enveloping sound than other recordings.

 
  • Like
Reactions: tima and bonzo75
Hello Tang,

Thank you for making this video. The earlier video has some drama in the first few minutes for sure. I like the swells and gentle rise of the strings in the section you recorded. It is why I like the build up in Saturn so much on Holst's Planets. For "sense of being in the hall", I particularly like Dubussy, Trios Images pour Orchestre, Haitink, Philips 9500 509. The ambiance or atmosphere is noteworthy, IMO.
 
  • Like
Reactions: bonzo75
Hi Peter,

The Bruckner 9 really have to be listened the whole piece. It is not an exciting piece that would continuously move you for 3-4 minutes. Instead there is calmness, rise n fall, in it that some how sucks listener into the flow of his musical telling. This particular recording is wonderful in so many ways. I get more sense of being in that hall attending that concert with enveloping sound than other recordings.


This is an excellent recording musically. The performance really brings out the polyphonic interaction between strings and brass very clearly, and so does the reproduction in your system. Well done, Tang.

This is the reproduction of the first occurrence of the third theme complex in the first movement, the "rhythmic theme", as some musicologists call this kind of theme in Bruckner; the other two being the Main Theme and the "Gesangsthema" (the "singing theme"), which precede this one. That kind of thematic structure is found in all of Bruckner symphonic first movements at least from the Third Symphony onward; it expands on the more traditional structural juxtaposition of just two themes, the main theme and second theme, commonly found in earlier symphonies until Bruckner.

The rise and fall here, as you call it, is well presented in this performance.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Scott Naylor
Here is my next tt. It stops better than the AF Zero for sure.

9DB4FC33-5A93-47B1-8184-45977874CEB2.jpeg
 
Puts new meaning into 'wheels of steel' Technics ;)
 
Since there was a Oistrakh Brahms tape video played earlier on this thread, this is in Altec 817 cabinet, JBL 375 plus Altec 515 woofer plus Gauss woofer, seems penta-amped, one for each driver

211 amps for each woofer, 300b and 6a3 and 417a for the mids to highs. My Chinese is not that good to interpret accurately

Airtight PC3

 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Argonaut
Since there was a Oistrakh Brahms tape video played earlier on this thread, this is in Altec 817 cabinet, JBL 375 plus Altec 515 woofer plus Gauss woofer, seems penta-amped, one for each driver

211 amps for each woofer, 300b and 6a3 and 417a for the mids to highs. My Chinese is not that good to interpret accurately

Airtight PC3

Sounds very well , @thomask please take note of the speaker positioning of these horns !
 
  • Haha
Reactions: bonzo75
Since there was a Oistrakh Brahms tape video played earlier on this thread, this is in Altec 817 cabinet, JBL 375 plus Altec 515 woofer plus Gauss woofer, seems penta-amped, one for each driver

211 amps for each woofer, 300b and 6a3 and 417a for the mids to highs. My Chinese is not that good to interpret accurately

Airtight PC3


Brahms double on another Altec, just to complete the double bill on Brahms
 
  • Like
Reactions: PeterA and Argonaut
Master Tang - any update on your Klangfilm adventure as yet? We are all excited about this one….
 

About us

  • What’s Best Forum is THE forum for high end audio, product reviews, advice and sharing experiences on the best of everything else. This is THE place where audiophiles and audio companies discuss vintage, contemporary and new audio products, music servers, music streamers, computer audio, digital-to-analog converters, turntables, phono stages, cartridges, reel-to-reel tape machines, speakers, headphones and tube and solid-state amplification. Founded in 2010 What’s Best Forum invites intelligent and courteous people of all interests and backgrounds to describe and discuss the best of everything. From beginners to life-long hobbyists to industry professionals, we enjoy learning about new things and meeting new people, and participating in spirited debates.

Quick Navigation

User Menu

Steve Williams
Site Founder | Site Owner | Administrator
Ron Resnick
Site Owner | Administrator
Julian (The Fixer)
Website Build | Marketing Managersing