Here's some interesting info I found in the text of an auction on ebay regarding norwegian ABBA record pressings: ABBA - Arrival - POLS 272 - Polar - Norway - 1976 Very rare Norwegian Testpressing of the ABBA - Arrival album. Pressed at Polygrams Vinyl pressplant in Oslo (710 in matrix is the proof of where its pressed, 710 is PolyGram pressplant in Oslo) Matrix on record: Side A: POLS 272 AB P76 F 710 *** Side B: POLS 272 B P76 F 710 *** As it turns out, my copy of the "ABBA" (1975) album says 710 in the matrix. This prooves that my great sounding copy is in fact Norwegian.
Yesterday I picked up a Vogue pressing of Voulez Vous, I read on Discogs that it had great bass, so that made me curious. It is a strange animal when you compare it to a German Polydor pressing. The runout groove was very small on both sides of the Vogue pressing. The grooves had more room. Theoretically it should have been superior to the Polydor, but it was not. The impression the albums left was same, with a slight preference for German Polydor, it had nicer somewhat more comfortable (warmer) sound with a hint of better bass. The Polydor had pressed deadwax numbers on the Vogue hand written and the original numbers scratched out. Vogue original M27506 A/506B changed into LD8537A4/37B4. Polydor 2344136S1=3 3 20 and 2344136S2 3 20. So no big surprises here, but for € 4.00 I got the album with close to mint cover and better colors. Any opinions what a reasonable price for a NM- version of Waterloo and Ring Ring would be? I have it on CD, but since 2014 have not listened to a single CD anymore. I also read a lot about Bang a Boomerang and a pressing that would not distort. I do not think it is going to happen, I listened to it on CD, but it is just a horrible recording. Very modern actually it would fit right in the loudness war going on, every level is on on max and no matter if you turn the volume down, it gets on your nerves.
Hi, Rob! I dont have the German Polydor to compare but here's what's written in the wax of my French "Voulez-Vous": Vogue original M 27506 A changed into LD8537A4/37B4. It looks like our copies are identical.
Seems they are indeed equal, what amazes me is that a new "mother" has been cut for the Vogue pressing and that it differs so much from the Polydor pressing that is is clearly visible. With all these pressings going on, I was not really impressed nor disappointed by the Vogue pressing. Seems that the Polydor pressings usually sound good. But we have not even scratched the surface, since in the same series, with the same deadwax numbers audible differences between LP's exist In an earlier post you wondered about cleaning and if it would get rid of surface noise, well if you use the right cleaner it might. Before I invested in my more or less professional RCM I got good results with a thing called Knosti Disco Antistat, I think it is also sold as Spinclean. These humble cleaning machines are often ridiculed, which is undeserved, they can do quite a good job. Provided you do not use the original cleaning fluid and use more than 1 cleaning solution. One to clean and one to rinse, I think the secret lies in letting it soak. It is not realistic to expect dust and grime to be removed in 30 seconds, cleaning fluids that do that might be powerful enough to remove your fingernails I was however able to score a mint copy of Waterloo and an Australian Ring Ring with all ABBA members wearing jeans. Hope the vinyl is as good as promised, which mostly, it never is.....
Hi Claus, I am certainly not the guy that knows it all, so please do not take offence. In my experience properly pressed and maintained vinyl from the heyday of vinyl is sonically superior to any CD. Although a lot of components in the chain contribute to vinyl sound with a high enjoyment factor, your turntable, the tonearm, the cartridge and if the thing is properly set up or not, your phono preamp. And there is a small matter of cleanliness of the vinyl. Since returning to vinyl uniquely as a carrier for music in 2014, I started sourcing my favorite CD's in vinyl and without exception I was always amazed at the extra detail, sound stage and the fact that the music sounded very natural on vinyl. But that is just my opinion this offers me the excuse to invest in more vinyl and equipment....... I have not listened to a single CD since 2014, although they are much more practical in use.
No offense taken and I largely agree with you. I love vinyl and listen to much more vinyl than cd these days although I won't give up on cd or digital. It's particularly frustrating to buy Abba records in Denmark. Their records are everywhere and are dirt cheap, but the Danish pressings are not that great in general. I have found one french pressing (Voulez-Vous). I rarely if ever see UK or US pressings which means that I have to order it from abroad and they then get a lot more expensive than the 3 euros (or less) which is the going rate for Abba records. I have ordered a US Atlantic pressing of s/t and I hope it sounds better than the Danish pressing I have but I'm not too optimistic. I like the US Super Trouper and Voulez-Vous and Arrival isn't too bad either, but I think Waterloo is quite poor. It's very bright. The Danish Waterloo is also very poor sounding, so the Polar cds are the best sounding versions I have heard of the two albums.
Jeeze Claus, Sounds like sonically speaking you are getting the short end of the stick over in Denmark, I feel for you. It is not always the solution but to prevent disappointment I am more inclined nowadays to invest more and seek out NM pressings. I ordered Waterloo from a guy in the Netherlands, the album was advertised Mint and I paid € 15.00 for it. If it is really Mint € 15.00 will buy me memories, although I have the complete Abba collection on CD, listening to a vinyl album is something special. I am not really an authority on sound, but all Polydor pressings I own either Dutch or German pressings sound very good. The US Atlantic pressing sounded quite good (Arrival) it was new in its shrinkwrap but my Polydor original which was played back numerous times sounded better. It still sounds great after all these years and after cleaning last week it sounds even better, practically no background noise. But what I understand from your words the Atlantic pressing will be a serious improvement over your Danish pressings. If you do not already own it, get your self a NM copy of The Visitors with "Cutting Room Sweden" in the deadwax, it will blow your socks off Seriously until a week ago I was still under the impression that better vinyl was limited to less background noise and slightly better sound, never knew such a night and day difference of the same record existed. Naive huh? Well That's me But The Swedes obviously knew what they were doing, it is wel worth the effort locating a good copy of this album.
I have The Visitors with Cutting Room Sweden in the deadwax. It's my understanding that this cut was used in most countries. Yes, it sounds great.
Consider yourself lucky then I never knew before that such good sounding Abba records existed. A shame that CRS only did this particular album, one can only phantasize about how the other records might have sounded, if they had cut these too
May I just say thank you to @JP Christian for digging me out some nice UK copies of most of the albums for a very reasonable price? Really enjoyed what I've played so far!
Hi! Today I received my order from France. Here's what I got: Waterloo, Epic EPC 80179, UK ABBA, Vogue LDY . 28.039 (colored painting label), France Arrival, Melba LDA. 20238 (gatefold), France The Album, Melba LDA. 20318, France As it turns out all the Melba discs were french The UK Album was not expected.
I gave the french ABBA (1975) a spin. Unfortunately, it's not a NM copy. Quite a few clicks & pops between songs. I think there's little to no distortion on Bang-A-Boomerang. A nice surprise! To me it sounded better than anything previously heard. Clear voices, clearer instrumentation. It sounded less boxed in. If it'd been a NM copy it would've sounded great I believe. The bass was good and the sound was otherwise clear. If my ears had been less waxy it would've been wonderful! The lead out area of the record says, in handwriting: on side a: X ME AU DRE Nothing else of interest in the dead wax.
The French Melba Arrival was disappointing. I played side A and discovered nothing of interest aside of hissy sound and crackling. Then I played side B. During track 1 I discovered that the whole record was hovering over the platter. It was like that all around. I lifted the arm and that was it. I couldn't play any more. I guess I got a bad copy. Maybe warped is the right name for it...
I think the most distortion on the ABBA album is on the swedish Polar LP, cause it was cut way too hot...I have a german, a durch and a canadian copy and all of them sound nice - especially the canadian one. I sold my swedish pressing and I also heard a danish pressing which sounds horrible (tape issues, azimuth issues, dull and dead). My preferred copy is the canadian pressing - it's great !!!
Hi Mr.Even B, I don't want to sound like a nag, nag, nag, but my personal experience is that unless a record is really damaged, dogs peed on it, children have experimented with it and tried to get sound out of it with a needle and paper megaphone you can get rid of most clicks and pops by cleaning. Clicks and pops is mostly caused dust, crud, skin particles that have accumulated over the years. Even a simple apparatus like the Knosti Disco Antistat does a great job Knosti Disco Anti-Stat | What Hi-Fi? » as long as you make your own fluid and discard after cleaning a run of LP's and use a second cleaning/rinse. If interested let me know, it only takes time and a very humble investment to get your records much cleaner than they are now.
The german polydor of arrival is great. Full sound. The swedish pressing of the visitors is also great. At least to my ears.
All pressings of THE VISITORS sound the same if they have CUTTING ROOM engraved in the runout grooves. I heard a dutch pressing without CUTTING ROOM and it sounds horrible. Too much sibilance and other issues in the treble range... ARRIVAL sounds best on vinyl on the EMI Denmark LP I think.
A new version of arrival is coming: ABBA / Arrival: half-speed mastered 45RPM 2LP vinyl and other goodies | superdeluxeedition »
