What's holding you back?

[magno@mac.com]

...With classical recordings of late. After dropping 6 grand or so on my stereo over the past couple of weeks I went to the store in search some quality classical discs to replace/compliment my collection of alot of low grade, bargain-priced repackaged classic recordings. I picked up a recent recording of Mendelsohn and Dvorak by the Beaux Arts trio and a fairly recent Pollini recording of Beethoven sonatas. I was expecting that at least I'd get to hear just how great my new system could sound.

How'd I do? Well, first off, the playing was especially sloppy on the Beaux Arts disc -- especially unacceptable given the esteem in which these folks are held.Pollini's Chopin Etudes are probably the best the world has ever or will ever hear but I'll take Brendel or Kempf's Beethoven over ole Maurizio's anyday. But worse than this was just how poor the production/engineering quality was in both recordings. Of course, these aren't the only egregious offendors I've come across in the recorded world of classical music --I'd say 40% of the classical recordings I've heard have sounded truly awful from a production standpoint. (This has always struck me as unacceptable given the perfectionism inherent in the classical world.) But here we are, late 2005, the classical music scene reportedly in a world of hurt, and these recordings are deemed fit to print? #$^#%%#^$%^ The analogue re-release of Glenn Gould's 2nd Goldberg Variations from 1981 sounds better than Pollini's 2003 Beethoven!!!

Sorry for the rant

I am curious to know what other people feel are the two or three factors that most hindering their enjoyment of reproduced sound???

To be sure, there is lots of discussion of equipment and media. And for me there have been time when these things have been my biggest irritant. (Still is with my HT set-up where speaker quality awaits my time & money for a DIY project I have in mind). But where my main system is concerned they have cease to be the big thing (for now).

My list follow; let's see yours:

1. A distant first for me is recording quality. To be clear I'm not talking about medium, (vinyl vs. CD vs. high-res); good and bad recording exist on each. As a mainly classical listener, I'm looking for a realistic semblance of an actual ensemble performing in a good performance venue. Is this too much to ask? It isn't; and I can say the obviously because such recordings to exist. Just last night I listen to a good Naxos recording: Witold Lutoslawski's Symphony No. 3 and other works, 8.553423, (Antoni Witt/Polish National Radio Sym.Orch). This is an unexceptional recording in some ways; it is a standard Red Book CD that was recorded ten years ago and its reproduction of, e.g., string sound isn't as almost perfect as some SACDs I own. However it has the essential quality I mention above, plus more than decent performance I would say: recommend. By contrast, last night I also listened to Elgar's Enigma Variations and Pomp & Circumstance Marches on Sony Essential Classics, SBK-48 265, (Barenboim/LPO): murky, airless, and lacking in dynamics -- a disgraceful reproduction that does not do justice to these colorful works. (IMO, a second rate performance too especially of the Pomp & Circumstance.)
2. Second for me is my general listening environment. My main system is located where too much general household noise intrudes. Improvements will be difficult and costly.
3. Third is listening area itself. There are bass resonances and, I suspect, secondary reflects that are significantly detracting from idea frequency response.

You can see that my equipment is nothing special, barely beyond entry level, but I have no serious problem with it. The tube versus solid state and digital versus vinyl debates are farcical from my perspective. My SS equipment can reproduce the best CDs almost ideally -- apart from the factors I mention above.

[Feanor]

...
.... Of course, these aren't the only egregious offendors I've come across in the recorded world of classical music --I'd say 40% of the classical recordings I've heard have sounded truly awful from a production standpoint. (This has always struck me as unacceptable given the perfectionism inherent in the classical world.) But here we are, late 2005, the classical music scene reportedly in a world of hurt, and these recordings are deemed fit to print? #$^#%%#^$%^ The analogue re-release of Glenn Gould's 2nd Goldberg Variations from 1981 sounds better than Pollini's 2003 Beethoven!!!

Sorry for the rant

I feel that in a purely technical sense recordings have improved quite a bit over the last 20 years. I mean engineers seem to balance the frequency spectrum more reliably that a generation ago, and digital harshness and hash are much less typical. On the other hand, the ability to capture a valid sense of a real ensemble playing in a real space hasn't consistently improved. A couple of recordings exemplify the opposite ends of this spectrum -- that just happen to come to my mind at the moment -- both SACDs, are:

• Really great: Jennifer Higdon: City Scape; Concerto for Orchestra. Robert Spano/Atlanta SO. Telarc SACD-60620 -- magnificent, modern engineer that really puts you in the concert hall.
• Really, (really), bad: Beethoven: String Quartets, Op.130 & 133, 'Grosse Fuge'. The Lindsays. ASV CD DCA 9117 -- the epitome of misguided engineering that puts you head inside the instruments.

[twochannelsonly]

So much unhappy.
I listened to everything I owned before I bought it and think it sounds wounderful and feel like there is nothing that hampers a persons ability to enjoy listening to the music but the person themselves.... hey thats good, maybe a new sig line LOL

[BRANDONH]

...With classical recordings of late. After dropping 6 grand or so on my stereo over the past couple of weeks I went to the store in search some quality classical discs to replace/compliment my collection of alot of low grade, bargain-priced repackaged classic recordings. I picked up a recent recording of Mendelsohn and Dvorak by the Beaux Arts trio and a fairly recent Pollini recording of Beethoven sonatas. I was expecting that at least I'd get to hear just how great my new system could sound.

How'd I do? Well, first off, the playing was especially sloppy on the Beaux Arts disc -- especially unacceptable given the esteem in which these folks are held.Pollini's Chopin Etudes are probably the best the world has ever or will ever hear but I'll take Brendel or Kempf's Beethoven over ole Maurizio's anyday. But worse than this was just how poor the production/engineering quality was in both recordings. Of course, these aren't the only egregious offendors I've come across in the recorded world of classical music --I'd say 40% of the classical recordings I've heard have sounded truly awful from a production standpoint. (This has always struck me as unacceptable given the perfectionism inherent in the classical world.) But here we are, late 2005, the classical music scene reportedly in a world of hurt, and these recordings are deemed fit to print? #$^#%%#^$%^ The analogue re-release of Glenn Gould's 2nd Goldberg Variations from 1981 sounds better than Pollini's 2003 Beethoven!!!

Sorry for the rant

This website has a lot of audiophile quality recordings:
http://store.acousticsounds.com/