What also doesnt make sense to me is that if you go to check out they still show free shipping options
Acoustic Sounds provided free FedEx Residential shipping on my box set order. This is from an order made after the box set was shown as “in stock” around two weeks ago. It might have been a fluke or something. The box set showed as ineligible for free shipping in the cart and then free shipping was provided as an option during checkout. Shipped on a Wednesday and delivered the following Friday.
I spent Sunday afternoon cleaning a batch of recent acquisitions, including this wonderful box. The comedy of trying to return the cleaned records to the unmarked anti-static sleeves has been the only hiccup in my enjoyment so far.
FedEx dropped the box at my front door without requiring a signature. And on the shipping charge, it sucks, but I'm going to feel slightly better about it because of the free shipping I'm going to get on the replacement discs I'm going to need. I've been through the first 10 discs and at least three are going to need replacements for audible scuffs. In addition, every single disc is warped to varying degrees, one unacceptably so. When I read about people getting perfect sets it kinda pisses me off lol.
another reason this is potentially a problem. Since they didn’t repress this in house, I’m assuming they have a very limited number of replacement lps and aren’t going to be able to repress a few more if need be.
I would take posts of perfection with a grain of salt. We all have different comfort levels in this crazy hobby -- especially when it comes to how much warpage or noise we can tolerate as "normal". EDIT: My experience with AP is that they will make things right, even with disks that I received months ago. AP may appear greedy, but they try to provide good customer service at least to US customers. This is just my personal experience.
That annoyed me, too (obviously very first world problem), but then I noticed the opening is at the side opposite the edge with the widest see-through margin.
Yeah, my set isn't "perfect" perfect. It's in a range I consider acceptable pending a couple things. With nine albums down, I've had three sides that needed a few hours in the Vinyl Flat and another three sides that had warps minor enough that I don't consider a VF session necessary (for now). There's a few relatively soft tics on "Piece Peace" on Everybody Digs that I'm going to check again after a cleaning and a few louder tics on the final seconds of Side B on Moonbeams - neither of those show any sorts of scratches so I'm kind of puzzled there. If anything earns a replacement request, it will be those two. Two more albums to go - hopefully I'll get to them tonight. I'm really hoping the ticks on "Piece Peace" aren't a pressing issue.
Any package over $500 from AS requires signature on delivery. As it should. At least where I live, Fed Ex is a complete **** show. I have received other peoples packages from Fed Ex (and Fed Ex alone) over half a dozen times in the 2.5 years I've owned this house, and have had 3 of my Acoustic Sounds shipments delivered to various neighbors. Luckily my neighborhood is friendly and we take the missed items to each other (even when its been two+ blocks away), but I have a feeling you'd be pretty peeved if you spent a grand on a box set and Fed Ex delivered it elsewhere. If it's inconvenient you can sign for the package online, or have it held for pick up at a Fed Ex location.
Fair enough. I try to be reasonable about it myself, but audible scratches is where I draw the line. What will be an interesting variable is that I'm getting a new cartridge installed on my table tomorrow (upgrading from a Hana SL to Hana ML). I don't know if that will make some of these noises better or worse!
Amazingly inconvenient but I used my Ring doorbell to talk to the Fed Ex guy and asked him to leave it on my front step which he said was no problem as long as I authorized it. There was a bit of a mad panic though for about 45 minutes until my neighbor was able to retrieve it for me until I got home. $1,000 box set just sitting in the sun on the front porch. I did not want to wait for my Bill Evans!
I was thinking about that as well, not only about the price hike from 600 to 900, at the end, it comes down to whether you want it or not, I was making excuses not to buy, thinking that maybe later they'll do a promotion, buy used later when Vinyl is not so popular again, free shipping, etc etc. Than I'd have lost months/years of enjoyment (and I can be cheap )... for what? Pulled the trigger yesterday, after a lot of internal debate. Then you get older and having extra bucks in the bank won't make a difference. That's the push I used to convince me lol.
I feel your pain. I resorted to having a pair of nitril gloves next to my UCM that served a dual purpose. First to keep fingerprints off the beautiful jackets and box and second to easily open the unmarked sleeves which my bare fingers failed to do. But if that is the biggest complaint I have, I will consider myself lucky. I am still using them while handling the jacket while playing the LP. Both to remove / insert the sleeves to start / finish playing the LP and to handle the sleeve to read the notes on the back.
Exactly, you only live once and this is Bill effen Evans. It was very dumb of all of us to wait when it was available for a few years at $600 but glad to finally have it now.
Understandable but a few extra bucks in the bank is always nice to have especially when you have your kids college to pay for in 15 years from now. Either way, im holding out hope that Craft will do 33s of most, if not all, of these next year for the 70th anniversary. Will be easier to swallow at $30 a pop instead of $90
What will be worth more in 15 years from now: $900 or the Bill Evans set? think of it as a hedge against inflation
I relate to this completely. While I can understand the aversion to 45s that some folks have, I find that one of the benefits of the format is that they foster a more active listening session. No time to zone out or drift off, as you said...which often happens to me towards the end of a 33RPM side.
Yes, and I've said before, it's not like Bill Evans would have played every tune in the exact order with mere seconds between tunes.
Wow. 22 records with only the slightest of a warp on one record? That's actually quite an impressive feat, especially in the current vinyl pressing environment... Kudos to RTI, indeed! Still making my way through the set, and will refrain from further commenting as I don't want to jinx myself.
Between this set and the Dead Lyceum box that came out somewhat recently, my faith in labels being able to put together large box sets with little quality issues has been restored. I wish every box got the kind of care these two did.
To buy or not to buy .... For what it's worth, I'm one of the people who is declining to buy this fantastic box set. Even though I've made this decision for myself, I will say say this: If there ever was a box set that was worth paying approximately $1,000 for without regret, it has to be this one. This is a special run of albums by a special musician, with reportedly the best sound quality you will ever get (especially if you like the 45rpm format), for music that is an audiophile's dream. I'm not sure how long these plates will last, but all-analogue won't be possible forever and who knows if the tapes are in good enough shape to create a box set like this again. Plus, this box set will likely never be worth less than you paid for it, and if you are a jazz fan Bill Evans is a musician you will likely never get tired of (for example, in contrast, 20 years ago I couldn't get enough of Cecil Taylor, but I haven't had any desire to listen to his music in at least 10 years -- YMMV of course but I don't see this happening with Bill Evans). Despite all that, I can't bring myself to spend the $1,000. My personal assessment is that I already get at least 90% of the enjoyment that I will get from this music from listening to the other sources that I have. In other words, for me personally I feel like I would be spending $1,000 in the hopes of getting another 10% of enjoyment from the music and I'm not entirely sure I would get even that (of course, I recognize this is not literally quantifiable like that but I think it is a good illustration of what this represents to me). For some people this will be a no-brainer, as being an audiophile (which I'm not really) is all about putting a lot of money into getting that additional 10% of quality and enjoyment. That particular game is not for me. I'm actually happy with the Bill Evans records that I have, or can get by spending much less than $1,000. On the other hand, if this were still $600 with no tax......
