I have the original Holland vinyl with Brian's strange little children's song on a bonus 7". It is a wonderful treasure to have the first pressing in NM condition. Is this new 200 gram Holland release worth it? I am reluctant to get any vinyl at 200 grams. Pretty iffy I've found. 180 gram is even starting to get iffy, with non-fill in the wax and dust particles embedded in the slower cooling wax (noisy sometimes). If they can't get it right, why not just go back to the standard vinyl weight. At least it is usually a sure bet for vinyl quality. 180-200 gram vinyl certainly doesn't make the LP sound better.
IMO, these 200g AP Beach Boys pressings are some of the best vinyl reissues Ive heard, maybe the best. They are all worth it.
No only worth it, if you're talking comparisons with original Capitols (and a host of others), the AP's beat them by a long shot.
A long shot perhaps, but has anyone directly compared the mono on the AP CD to the vinyl (the 45RPM specifically)? I'm trying to figure out whether I'm getting a little too much bass through the phono stage on my new setup so trying to compare like with like as far as possible. I thought I should probably check if the vinyl wasn't a bit heavier in the bass in itself.
I don't know the answer, but I have noticed that the AP 33RPM Beach Boys reissues have more bass info than most records.
I'd be weary about the AP vinyl releases, a lot of complaints about them being pressed off centre....
FWIW, I have a couple and they are absolutely perfect. For a catalog that has often not been shown respect, these are the real deal.
This is the first I've heard of this complaint at all. It took a while, obviously, but I own most of the Beach Boys' AP issues and every single one of them, is perfect in every way. Everything from the glossy, tip-on sleeves packaging and inners, to the sound quality, is second to none.
Although Surfer Girl is not my favorite Beach Boys album, I bought the 45 rpm pressing for tracks like that. It is truly remarkable.
I could not agree more. I had always felt that the Beach Boys' catalog as a whole, had never been given any proper attention, in terms of reissues or remasters, etc. The AP stuff took care of that. It's all about the music, but quite frankly - those outer jackets, the glossy tip-on sleeves quality, is absolutely second to none, and it's not even close.
I have the AP of Sun Flower. The sound is stunning. One of the best sounding records in my collection. As others have said the packaging is beyond first rate. I did get Surfs Up for Christmas and compared it to a stateside UK and and felt they both had their positives. Fremmer suggested that SU might be a "best sources" LP and that it is missing the air of the best US press. Listening to my UK I would agree. The small differences in this case might not have warranted the nearly 50 dollars in extra expense. Would be curious to hear what others think of the AP Surfs Up. A brief search seems to suggest that 20/20 and Friends were not part of this reissue series. Strange ommissions as I never see them in the used bins and would think many would prefer them to the early BB records.
I've done side by side A/B comparisons of my original first pressings of Sunflower and Surf's up, with the AP pressings. Those Artisan Sound cuttings on the first pressings are excellent, especially if you have, or can find a near-mint condition copy of them. My audio system isn't super high-end or anything, but I can't say at all, that the AP reissues "blow away" the Artisan pressings. I think they all sound really great. I prefer the originals by a slight margin. The only edge I would give the AP to, is the sleeves and packaging quality, etc. I tend to avoid all UK pressings of Beach Boys albums. I heard a UK Pet Sounds once, that was dreadful.
I purchased 5 of them from Acoustic Sounds when they came out and had to return two of them for that very problem. They handled it VERY professionally at the time and replaced them with no questions asked. They even told me to keep the off center pressings so I didn't have to hassle with returning them. They are my go to pressings of those particular Beach Boys albums.
For what it's worth, Steve Desper swears by the Artisan pressing. The original one. I doubt he has heard the AP in comparison, but who knows?