GREAT RECORDING LIST Mike,...thank you again, I don't have the last two but am familiar with the rest,....gotta love Gary Karr's and Ray Brown's work, definitely agree on those and others by the same guys. Thank you...

zephyr24069 January 21, 2015 10:23

I almost forgot....another cello recording that I love when I'm in the right mood.

Yo-Yo Ma, Tavener, 'The Protecting Veil' CD Sony SK 62821.

an acquired taste but if you like it you will love it when the mood strikes you.

beautiful tone and atmosphere. dim lights, late night, a wee bit of single malt....musical bliss. enjoy.

I've heard this piece down live locally and really enjoyed it.

mikelavigne January 21, 2015 06:58

hi Mark,

sorry for the delay in response. thanks for the recs on the Venus Records files, I will check it out.

tonight I'm doing more piano; I have this wood box reissue set of Soviet Union recordings from Mercury Living Presence 35mm magnetic film from June of 1962. Byron Janis Piano on three of the 5 pressings. SR90300, SR90305 and SR90329. Mercurys are always very good; these are outstanding both sonics and performance. the piano is super dynamic and alive. plenty of body and weight to the sound, but open and energetic. really a perfect balance. a very exciting sound.

three cello recordings that are favorites and demo disc quality;

Gary Karr/Harmon Lewis; Adagio d'Albinoni, 45rpm Lp, Impex IMP3001-45. great tone and space. need lots of deep bass headroom to allow it to breathe.

Ray Brown & Laurindo Almeida, Moonlight Serenade, DTD Jeton 1003315. make sure it's the original direct-to-disc from 1981 and not the Clearaudio vinyl dub reissue. the iconic 1st track, a combo of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, and Monk's Round Midnight is a hair-raising cut when the system can capture the full tilt boogie of Ray Brown's double bass. on the MM7's/458's it's crazy good. and if (1) your system can get the deep bass but (2) your tt does not have good isolation, (3) the feedback from the dynamic double bass content will muddy up the musical flow. it's a real system tester. but when it all works it's sublime. the redbook version of this cut is also very good if you can find it. great music any way you hear it! but the vinyl is amazing.

Hungaroton LPX.11413 Stereo, Lp, Hus Desforges/Muntz-Berger, Cello/Double bass sonatas. I accidently came across this Lp 3-4 years ago when I purchased a collection. a fantastic recording, very honest and full bodied and alive. I listen to it often. Hungaroton recordings are minimalist and very vivid and open. worth going to the trouble to buy in Europe and pay the shipping. if you can combine it with other Hungaroton recordings you will likely be happy with them.

more later.....

mikelavigne January 21, 2015 06:50

Mike,...thanks! BVSC and the Krall discs are entries here to and I enjoy them very much. There is also some well mic'ed and play jazzed piano on any of the Venus Records 24/192->RBCD Hypermagnum recordings out of Japan of various current jazz combos that I enjoy very much. I also dig some of Jordan Rudess' piano work (4NYC, various other accompanied and unaccompanied piano work); the discs are a mix of above-average to very good mastering but the playing is of interest to me. He's a very well-versed talent to say the least.......

Have a great day, keep that heart-rate down, and HAVE FUN!

zephyr24069 January 19, 2015 15:37

ok, my heart rate is down a bit so back to audio.....

a few more Piano recs first;

a long time favorite is the Mozart Concerto's 21 and 24 by Istomin from Reference Recordings; I have the CD, RR-68CD, the HRx 176-24 disc downloaded on my server, and the 45rpm 2 disc pressing. a shame that they did not use the analog tapes for the 45rpm pressing although it is still better than the HRx for whatever reason.

then there is Ruben Gonzales playing the wonderful Salsa style piano on Ry Cooder's Buena Vista Social Club. I have the CD, the 45rpm box set, and somehow I also have a 1/4" 15ips master dub I'm enjoying right now. a sonic and artistic triumph for sure on each format, and an analog mastered recording to boot. it is prominent on many cuts but amazing on track 4, Pueblo Nuevo.

also the Diana Krall 'Live In Paris' has lots of really well recorded piano. the CD is outstanding. avoid the 33rpm pressing, the 45rpm pressing is spectacular. again; somehow I have a 1/4" 15ips of that one too.

mikelavigne January 19, 2015 05:00

Mark,

after that game it might take me some time to pull myself together again and think straight.

holy crap!

mikelavigne January 18, 2015 23:48

Mike,...you are very welcome! "Super Trio" has some dynamite "prepared piano" passages on it and several kickass drum-kit entries that are hard to top. It is a very unique recording and on your system I can only imagine the jaw-dropping results. Certainly worth making room on the shelf and server for "one more silver/gold disc" and then the import into the server!

The Nojima and Evans discs you mention are favorites here too; they give a system a great workout in multiple dimension and are damned fine music to boot! I don't have the others and will be sure to look them up. I like Nojima's other works as well beyond the Liszt as well as Guilda's piano work on all the Beethoven recordings that Esoteric remastered and released as an SACD box set last year.

That mislabelled tape you have sounds like someone was mic'ed a live or other recording from the booth and then it went into the archives. I know several people with recordings like this from various venues in NY, Chicago, etc...the little I've heard tell me there are treasures out there; it's been enough to keep me thinking of adding a R2R capability to the system and start buying tape but I've held off as like vinyl, it;'s pragmatic here in that there is only so much time, money and space available (and limited WAF beyond what I enjoy most days).

Enjoy the game....talk later!

zephyr24069 January 18, 2015 20:25

hi Mark,

thanks for the kind words. I do enjoy this wonderful hobby of ours to it's fullest.....and I appreciate the encouragement. one of the best parts is the community of listeners/audiophiles I interact with. and I'm happy you enjoy the 'Jan Fukamachi, At Steinway', it was a fun process and i was honored to be involved with and it was very educational for me. I'd love to that again with my current vinyl playback and system and see the progression since 2008.

Have you ever played Winston's "Super Trio" UDC on this system? There are a few tracks I'd love to hear out of this system of yours....

I have lots of Winston's discs, which are always excellent sounding. sad to say I don't have the 'Super Trio' UDC disc 'yet'. about three years ago I stopped buying 'silver discs' for the most part as I basically ran out of room for them and was transitioning to mostly listening to digital thru my server. right now I have 6+ terabytes of music 'growing daily' on my server and most of what is one there is dsd and 2xdsd. that is not to say that discs do not sound great, since they most certainly do. as good as hirez is, and particularly 2xdsd is, some CD's still fully hold their own in sound quality, particularly Winston's discs. i likely have at least 50 FIM discs and Winston is a dear friend. I will acquire the 'Super Trio' UDC and listen to it and post my comments.

what are you favorite piano and violin & cello if applicable recordings or at least your top3 or top5 for each? I've got a long list of piano, violin and string music but I'm curious which ones you return to for the ultimate playback experience.

there are so many, and it's hard to separate the sonic qualities and the performance. mostly it's the music that moves me, and i hope for the best as far as sonics. and understand that I'm no expert on music, i only know what i like and what makes me happy. all that said here is a list of what comes to mind at the moment.

Piano,

-my overall favorite piano recording is a 1/4" 15ips master dub of a live concert hall recording of the Beethoven Piano Concerto No.4 by Leonard Shure. i acquired it some years ago and I've tried to find details on the performance but cannot find anything on google about the performance or recording. the person I acquired it from labeled it as a 'Beethoven Sonata' so he did not know what he had either. it is a force of nature. just a majestic and involving recording and the piano just rocks. sorry to tease you with this, but you asked. if you ever visit we can enjoy it together.

coming back to the real world for piano recordings....

Ivan Moravec, Beethoven Piano Sonatas, VAIA CD, 1069. great sound and performance.

Nojima Plays Listz, Reference Recordings, I have the CD RR-25CD, the Lp, and the 15ips 1/4" tape from the Tape Project. really stresses a system to get it all. wonderful recording.

one piano recording I love is 'Peace Piece' from Bill Evans off the 'Everybody Digs Bill Evans' album. I have the OJCCD-068-2 (Riverside) CD and the AP 45rpm 2 disc Lp set. first; I love everything Bill Evans has done and so anything by him is good. this album is very good but this particular cut is simply wonderful in it's feeling. I love it.

I'm running out of time before my Seahawks game, I will come back to this and do my violin and Cello recs.

best regards,

mikelavigne January 18, 2015 19:33

hi Sam,

thanks......1/2" 15ips tape rules!

and the best to you too....

mikelavigne January 18, 2015 17:08

Mike....what are you favorite piano and violin & cello if applicable recordings or at least your top3 or top5 for each? As an aside, I regularly return to Winston's UDC/UDM Fukamachi done in your room and marvel at how great that disc and the system that produced it are...I've got a long list of piano, violin and string music but I'm curious which ones you
return to for the ultimate playback experience.

Have you ever played Winston's "Super Trio" UDC on this system? There are a few tracks I'd love to hear out of this system of yours....

I've looked at this system and love reading through your threads many times every month; between you and Albert Porter and a few others, you do an incredible thing for this hobby (obsession more like...) in how your systems inspire people and all the help and advice you give.

All I have to say is that if one believes in heaven (at least for an audiophile), it must look and sound like this room!!! Have a great weekend and enjoy the music!

zephyr24069 January 18, 2015 11:39

Hi Mike,

Enthusiastically agree with paragraph 3 from 1/9/15.

HNY!
Sam

c1ferrari January 17, 2015 22:54

hi Harv,

bring the Argerich Chopin scherzo op39 on down and we can let's rip on the big rig.

I have at least 20 Argerich Lps, and 10 of her CD's. she is wonderful.

thanks for all the kind comments.....

take care,

mikelavigne January 17, 2015 21:27

Oboyoboyoboy!!
Man, I can only imagine what that 1/2" stuff 'sounds' like (or rather, 'where' it 'transports' you to... A vector in space/time)
The Argerich Chopin scherzo op39 is likely my very favorite piano recording, I'd love to hear it on 'The' system.
Kudos again for 'getting there'
It's inspiring to see a man with the wits, passion, and means pursue the ne plus ultra in any endeavor.. I could rattle on for hours but alas,
I have a date with Ms Argerich

hxt1 January 14, 2015 17:45

for almost 3 years I've been without my 1/2 inch Studer A-820 deck. the summer before I got my new MM7 speakers and 458 amps I figured that would be a good time to do some maintenance on the 1/2 Studer A-820. due to mostly my innocent incompetence, and some help from pathetic UPS shipping, I made such a mess of this deck that it's taken my friend and RTR tape deck puba Ki Choi a couple of years and untold aggravation......but today it's in my room playing beautiful music.....better than ever. Ki has been a man among men, and a great and understanding friend to see this process thru. I suppose if you were to supply the right amount of good cheer and high quality adult beverage to Ki he might share with you all the stuff he went thru with my beast. personally I don't even want to think about it anymore. in any case, many, many, thank you's to Ki.

recently I rediscovered my 1/4" Studer and just how amazing tape is sounding thru the 458's, tweaked by designer MM7's, and the recent addition of the Entreq grounding box.

and now the 1/2 Studer is, for the very first time, showing just what the all time best possible audio media can sound like thru the system. there is nothing like 15ips 1/2 inch tape. unless maybe it's 30ips 1/2 inch tape, or 1" 15ips or 30ips tape. however; since 1 inch 2-track is not really real world, and 12" reels are not something I want to deal with, and there are different EQ's for 30ips (the King Cello does not use)........I'm going to crown 1/2 inch 15ips as the bomb. and I'm of the mind that a fully right A-820, A-80 or ATR-102 are the best transports to ever come down the pike (my preference of the three is the A-820). output electronics remain a matter of taste. so 1/2" 15ips, thru the A-820-King Cello is my personal tip top source for reproduced music in my experience.

I do have a couple dozen or so 1/2 tape titles I can play, including 4 tape project titles I can actually post about...which I will in due time. I also have 15-20 unused 1/2 reels of new tape waiting to receive some great content.

I'm listening to 1/2 inch, 15 ips tape right now and it is awesome sounding. superb! I am so happy to have this deck back and sounding so good.

if you want to have a music reproduction reference to chase, this would be that.

mikelavigne January 10, 2015 04:24

hi Larry,

thanks for the kind comments.

my listening room is in a barn. the barn is 75 feet from my house. I have a 75 amp service to my Equi=tech panel from the meter in my garage in my house which runs on a dedicated line to the panel. there is a dedicated ground rod right outside the wall which serves this panel.

the panel is mounted on an outside wall across the hallway from the door to my listening room (see pictures). there are 10 circuits from the panel using 10 gauge Romex running into the room to Furutech GTX-D Rhodium duplex outlets.

Equi=tech open

Equi=tech on the wall across from the door to my room

you have to get within 3 feet of the panel to hear any noise at all from the panel. and the isolation transformer is powerful enough at 10 kilowatts that it has lots of headroom to easily power my whole system without any effect on dynamics. in fact; the system is much more dynamic with the Equi=tech than before it.

there is a separate 100 amp service for the barn to a different sub panel for HVAC and lights and service to the 'dirty' circuits in my room.

mikelavigne December 31, 2014 22:35

Mike,
Awesome system and room!
How far away is your Equi=tech 10WQ located from your outlets?
Best regards,

lak December 31, 2014 14:02

Dan,

it has been awhile since we got together; I think it was actually the Von Schweikert VR9SE's I had in early 2006....when I first got the darTZeel preamp....8 years ago. even in dog years that is awhile. :-)

and I have noticed your system evolution and continued musical enjoyment too. I noticed you recently upgraded your 401 plinth and added the Crown 1600 watt amplifier.

as far as my system sounding better, I did recently add the Entreq Silver Tellus grounding box with -4- of the Entreq signal gounding cables. they did push things to just a little higher level of refinement I think. the music sucks me in and involves me more. a good tweak to my ears.

but I also agree that sometimes we, as listeners, are just more ready to connect with our systems....we are in the right 'mood' as you say. I will add that since you visited, my wife and I have spent quite a bit of time on Whidbey Island and the San Juans exploring....what a wonderful place you have there.

I agree wholeheartedly on Martha Argerich and i have 25-30 of her Lps and maybe 10-15 of her CD's. one of my favorite artists.

I am enjoying the music on my system....it brings me great joy and satisfaction. that is what it's all about. you are always welcome to visit again. the system is in a whole different place than it was 8 years ago....and looking at your system from what I recall....it has evolved too.

have a Happy New Year,

best regards,

mikelavigne December 31, 2014 00:44

Mike,

I appreciate your enjoyment of your system, and understand how, for some reason, a system just sounds better for no other reason than your mood tunes you in the music more on that particular night.

A common occurrance, but that doesn't mean the system isn't sounding great all the time, it's our appreciation that changes from time to time.

I have also lately developed a great affinity for Martha Argerich, and highly recommend her DG retrospective, "The Art Of Martha Argerich", three CD's and text with many photos to enjoy. It certainly doesn't hurt that she's a vary beautiful woman as well as a world-class musician.

I have not forgotten how you so graciously welcomed me in your home, and listening room, over ten years or so ago now (you still had your VR-7's, I believe they were, and hadn't had your darTZeel preamp very long. Been a long time.

Anyway, thanks for that, and I'm glad to see you're still enjoying your system. Mine has also evolved greatly, as has my enjoyment, on a necessarily smaller financial scale, but still highly enjoyable.

I wish you a Happy New Year, and many more to come.

Best regards,
Dan Thomason,
Whidbey Island

islandmandan December 30, 2014 20:52

the system has been really sounding fine lately so tonight I grabbed a couple of superb sounding Classical Lps I have not listened to in a long time (one maybe never) and I was transported to another place and time. One is solo piano, the other large Orchestral.

first; a DG 1980 pressing and 1980 performance (DG 2531 088 tulip) of Martha Argerich, Bach, Toccata BWV911, Parita BWV826, and English Suite No.2 BWV807. wonderful full range piano recording just right to my sensibilities. intimate, super quiet pressing, great sparkle and energy, not strident at all.....full bodied and nicely balanced. looking for a solo piano recording to show off the system? here is one to have. I dimmed the lights and let it flow........

second; a late 90's Decca 'Super Analog' reissue of a 1967 Decca, (KIJC 9238) of Falla:El Amor Brujo-Ballet, Granados:"Goyescas"-intermezzo, Ravel: Pavane Pour Infante Defunte. a 1966 Kenneth Wilkinson recording in Kingsway Hall, London.....and it is superb! amazing sonics and musical flow, space and detail. great tension and sucked me into the vibe of it. very interesting recording and I loved the music. Wow! I've had this record since the late 90's and I'm not sure I've ever played it before. or maybe it simply never touched me like this.

caution; I'm no classical expert......I just like great music and appreciate great sonics too.

just strap these on and enjoy the ride!

mikelavigne December 30, 2014 07:21

hi Harvey,

thank you again for the nice comments. i'm happy that you appreciated my efforts to optimize things in my room and system. it's been a labor of love.

when you have a great source like 'reel 2' of 'Abbey Road' what is great is that as you go down the road of system and room improvement you will hear more and more of the reality of a source like that. don't knock where you are at on the path, just enjoy the journey.

we are all on that same path of trying to get closer to the real music.....and it's fun getting together to enjoy that path.

cheers,

mikelavigne December 23, 2014 23:35

To my own system, in a small non dedicated room. Owing to lack of eq and room treatment, plus proximity to my speakers, I now reali the softening of resolution and immediacy I perceived that day was really just a lack of defects and imbalance in my own setup.
The benefit of a proper room and true world class equipment led to an audio experience that will not be forgotten.
A 3 hr drive and bad car stereo left me a bit frazzled. Ear plugs on the drive out next time!
Haha

hxt1 December 22, 2014 01:07

hello Phil,

sorry for the delay in my response; I'm not always paying attention to my Audiogon page.

I am using spikes for the feet as I have carpet over concrete and I wanted to make sure the feet got down to the concrete for the best connection. as far as the shelves I am using the flat leveling dampers; however, I'm also using two Herzan active isolation platforms with the Adona, one under my tt and one under my pre and digital player. so my Adona is supercharged. the two Herzan platforms are $12k and $10k each.

the Adona is ideal as a grounded rack for active isolation.

mikelavigne December 20, 2014 06:49

hello Lohan,

sorry for the delay in my response; I'm not looking at my Audiogon page often enough. as far as answering your questions;

the Wave Kinetic NVS compared to the Rockport; it's been 3 years now that the Rockport Sirius III has been gone from my system. i'd say that the NVS does do a little more of what I like than the Rockport; quieter backgrounds (when on the Herzan active isolation in my room), more space, a bit more pace; but these preferences are not large differences, they are quite subtle. more significant is that the NVS allows for other tone arms which is where the more significant performance differences are that allow the NVS to have higher ultimate performance than the Rockport. but again; both these tt's are at such a rarified level that both are top top level choices. and my own tastes and preferences are involved here. I know some simply prefer the sound of the linear tracking arms. so it's not a black and white issue of superiority.

I still miss the Rockport and wish I still could afford to own it and the NVS. the Rockport has an iconic position among tt's that is unique.

as far as the EMT948 it is a wonderful tt, but it's arm and cartridge are only very good, not top level. so as it sits in my room it is not in the same class as the NVS. if someone were to mount a great tonearm, such as the Durand Kairos you would have a world class vinyl front end.

mikelavigne December 20, 2014 06:09

You know, I'm sitting here listening to reel 2 of Abbey Rd, it is a 'reference' piece for me as well, and I'm finally able to appreciate the level of repro in your space... My space is much smaller and very 'live'. Naturally, I noticed only what was 'missing' in comparison t

hxt1 December 20, 2014 05:14

hi Harvey,

it was a pleasure to meet you, and thank you for the kind words. it was a fun session, and I hope you can visit again with some of your B.C. audio friends. let me know when and we will work out the details.

and no; other than at audio shows I don't have personal experience with the Strain Gauge cartridges, but really admire what Peter does.....sorry I cannot be more help.

best regards,

mikelavigne December 20, 2014 04:51