Collecting classical records?

Those of us that were smart bought up their collections,mostly at thrift stores.

 

That is a later pressing.To put it bluntly,they suck.The ones to get are the ones pressed when Harry Belock owned the company.These were pressed from 1958-1963.There are something like 63 titlesfrom these years. have over fifty.There are two labels to look for.

This is the first one.


This is the second one.

 

Thanks yasujiro !

 

Thanks EasterEverywhere for the clarification !

 

Picked this up but it only covers UK vinyl. A valuation price guide. No reviews. Just vinyl grading.

 

Hmm, it is 10 years out of date.

 

And now their CD collections are ending up in thrift stores.

 

Some prices higher, some lower 2014( I would imagine)Just got it for a evaluation price guide. Not too expensive on ebay 20/30 pounds ( maybe cheaper).

 

Popsike 200.00 dollars. (1993)

 

And after that, fugedaboudit.

 

I'm a real sickie in that department. Tried everything, including a few methods that don't work. Whatever you do, don't use anything with ammonia on Shellac. Destroys it in one pass—don't use Windex on 78's is all I'm sayin'.

With LPs, unless they're styrene and those are rare, you are dealing with vinyl. That stuff is tough though at the microscopic level of the wiggles in the groove, maybe not that tough. I have a VPI 16. It's no longer available, the 16 has been upgraded to the 16.5 and I just might break down and get the upgrade kit for $70 or so. Meanwhile, it's just a vacuum for the LP surface. The turntable spins at something like 18 rpm. I now use a nylon/polyester brush, 4" wide. I'll probably get a 3" paintbrush soon, 4" is just a little too wide and you increase the chance of label damage. In any case, covers more surface area than the standard brush that comes with the VPI machine and isn't as likely to damage the surface via active scrubbing. I have a first cleaning with a mixture of half 91% isopropyl, half distilled water and the tiniest bit of 'Method' surface cleaner. I slowly turn the record on the VPI table by hand in both directions. The second pass is about 1/4 Everclear [eythl alcohol], 3/4 distilled water and a tablespoon of Windex. Same scrubbing as with the first solution. I finish with distilled water sprayed on and no scrubbing at all. I've been cleaning a lot of very old records lately, seem to be getting the best results with pre-Beatle Capitol LPs, particularly Grey label mono pressings from the mid-fifties. I found a set of Brahms Symphonies, Karajan, Berlin Philharmonic, the aforementioned Tulip pressings. There was grease on all four LPs. The technique I just described removed all the grease, leaving a LP with remarkably quiet surfaces. Others will tell you I'm crazy, I'm not about to argue. But I have the best results with this cleaning method.

 

Kudos and thanks Robin !
Informative as ever.

 

Any body interested in collecting Classical Music should buy the 2 Decca Sound Box CD Sets, Analogue And Digital
For 150 Quids, 100 of the best recordings ,featuring superb performances in the best halls, worldwide.
Forget archaic vinyl and silly prices.

 

I'm a fetishist Roger. Love black gold. Nothing wrong with redbooks though.

 

A bargain for everyone, perhaps.

 

I have both boxes and they are a great way to get a lot of classical music for little money. But they do not offer any reason to forget about vinyl versions of the same titles IMO. For the London/Decca label there is better sound to be had on the King Super Analog label, the Speakers Corner Label and on many Decca cut LPs. Still waiting to listen to the ORG reissues.

Of course another way to get a lot of classical music on the London/Decca label with even better sound is to hit the used classical bins and scour them for the still under priced and under appreciated Decca pressed Londons. I still find them in NM condition for 1-5 bucks.

This based on my personal experience. YMMV

 

Classical prices are falling somewhat, despite the obviously limited supply of good condition good pressings. I think there's a bit less interest as the collector pool ages or (like someone I know) they have several copies of everything.

It's been hinted above, but the 'best' versions of many classic records aren't always the 'first'.

The last really good disks I sold (including Soria series Living Stereos) were a few years ago, wen they were still several hundreds each set.

 

I have a Canadian repressing of this album, LSC2214, Red Seal label, J2RY 3591-13S and J2RY 3592-2S in the runout grooves.

I just gave my copy a listen.

Other than vinyl surface noise I think the recording sounds very nice with good dynamic range.

 

It does vary indeed
The mastering on these box sets is superb, its almost impossible to tell analog from digital sources
And @ £1.50 a cd ,with an impeccable booklet, it beats anything you can find in bins imho.

 

I have no trouble hearing the differences in quality between the various recordings in the two boxes but if I couldn't I would consider that to be a real big problem not a sign of quality.

 

That makes little sense Scott.
Quality is quality.

 

If the record has RFR1 written in the dead wax, it's a first press.

I see lots of Mercury 1812 Overture LP's (a big seller), all FR3-9 and RFR 5-8 numbers, all later issues.
RFR stands for Robert Fine Recording.

 

As mentioned up thread, charity shops are choc full classical on vinyl and CD. I know nothing about the genre, but I do try to 'rescue' records from charity shop bins wherever possible. Perhaps this question needs its own thread, but I was wondering which labels/etc were worth looking out for when flipping through.

 

Our Goodwill gets tons of Columbia Ormandy and Bernstein, not much DG, London, UK EMI, or Mercury.

Here's a quickie guide:
6-eye Columbia stereos (Bruno Walter) and "Full Radial Sound" (Szell) Epic labels.
London Bluebacks and black labels.
DGG Tulip labels and some DG labels, look for 1960's dates stamped in the dead wax.
EMI labels (Angel red label, HMV, Columbia) the US pressed Angel LP's are so so.
Mercury maroon labels (look for RFR and FR matrixes hand written in the deadwax, stamped numbers stay away)
Philips (worthwhile US LP's will have RFR matrixes hand written like Mercury LP's) red label Holland pressings are OK.