Audio Nirvana Progression

[nc42acc]

We all started somewhere in this roller coaster hobby. Think back to your beginnings with your very first audio system, we all had our core recordings we listened to over and over. As you progressed upgrading your system we all, at least I have, continue to have those recordings as favorites. Do you remember in that progression the recordings you belove have what I have witnessed as an onion effect? Each time your system becomes more resolving you peel back layers and hear things you never heard before. For me it has been an awaking of sorts with me enjoying those old favorites more now than ever before.

[Johnny Vinyl]

+1. It's been a really exciting journey having had the good fortune of listening more into the music as the quality of my system grew. It's easier for me now to identify recordings, mastering, pressings and the quality thereof. It has also allowed me to talk intelligently about various pressings I've tried and have sought out (although that is also highly subjective).

Almost half of my collection was in storage for almost two decades, but now that they are with me I've spent the last year listening to some of those old faves, and I'm loving it. .

[MylesBAstor]

I think something that Paul Stubblebine said in an interview a while back about Keith Johnson's recordings applies to all recordings:

"Or as Paul unhesitatingly shares, "Keith's recordings never stop giving one rewards as the playback system improves. That's unlike other recordings that have a ceiling and then begin to show issues in the recording."

Some of yesteryear's references continue to improve; others references sound worse; yet others that didn't sound good, sound good now. For instance, the Antill Corroboree on EMI Australia that HP raved about decades ago really hasn't stood the test of time. In fact, every so I often, I replay the record and and continue to get the same result. Other recordings sound much better too because the issues were with the playback system, electronics or speakers., not with the recording. I think important strides have been made in that cartridge/arm interface, speed control and phono system electronics.

Now I can't off the top of my head think about an album going from bad to good; I can, however, think of a tape where that recently occurred after changing the RCA and IEC connectors on my tape electronics. I had in for review a tape from Hemiolia Records in Italy. My first reaction was ho-hum and put it back on the shelf; after upgrading the electronics, I decided to spool the tape up again and it was totally different sounding recording. I also have to say every tape that I have played since the upgrade sounds 10X better --like you said hearing the small things-- as well as just having the music totally open up and become closer to reality.

Now the one thing that has always puzzled me is why an album might sound good on one turntable and crappy on another. Certainly I can understand the situation where the cartridge/arm combo isn't able to handle the energy produced during playback. Other times though, that's not the situation.