I did a little searching on the archives and there are a number of comments on Audiogon regarding the superiority of original pressings. One of the threads I ran across is this one from 2006:

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?eanlg&1165873512&openusid&zzSalectric&4&5#Salectric

I do have to admit that a number of vinyl lovers do not agree. I think it comes down to what you are listening for---somebody who values clean, low-distortion tracking above all else may prefer reissues. Somebody who values natural tonality, lively dynamics and emotional involvement will prefer the originals.

salectric November 03, 2013 12:36

It brings to mind the story of "The Emperor's New Clothes." I haven't bought audiophile reissue LPs for 4 or 5 years for just this reason. No matter what degree of "care" in the mastering of the reissue, or which big name engineer is in charge of the remastering, or what price or whether it is 45 or 33, I find I almost always prefer to play my older copies.

I have to add a caveat. While this definitely applies to jazz and the occasional folk/rock LP that I've bought, I don't have enough experience with classical LPs to be sure this applies to them.

salectric November 03, 2013 11:24

Jeff, I know what you mean about the sound of original issue LPs as compared to modern reissues. It seems counter-intuitive given all the attention paid to reissues these days, but I consistently prefer originals and early reissues to the "audiophile" reissues available today. Sometimes I wonder if the reviewers who, just as consistently, go bananas over each new audiophile reissue have ever listened to an original. If they did, surely they would hear the same thing we do. Fortunately, original issue LPs (and early reissues) are still available for the music I listen to courtesy of Ebay. I have had the occasional over-rated lemon LP but the vast majority of my Ebay purchases have worked out just fine.

salectric November 03, 2013 06:44

Jeff, After the Absolares are broken in, I would be interested in hearing your comments on the sonic differences between them and the VAC gear. Some photos would be nice too!

Did you get the Absolare stands for the electronics? I saw some photos of them a while back and they were beautiful.

salectric September 02, 2013 16:06

Wow, you have an amazing system! I have no doubt that it sounds great especially with the new Absolare components. I look forward to reading further comments on them after they are fully broken in. Did your Absolares include Duelund CAST caps?

Dave

salectric August 30, 2013 07:26