Everyone have their RCA LIVING STEREO SACDs yet? Better grab 'em! Leontyne Price...

Thanks for the head up . Are there any current BN coupons available?

Bill

 

Just ordered 35 of 'em to complete my collection. Thanks to the original poster of this notification about B&N over on SACD.NET!!!

 

Ordered 10 SACDs myself

 

Can someone kindly remind me, is the CD layer of these SACDs the same remaster as the SACD layer or is it just the same old master as on the standard CDs? I'm asking because I'm thinking of ripping them.

 

Same remaster as the SACD layer.

 

I have them ripped both from the redbook layer and extracted from the SACD's. The difference is not insignificant for what it's worth.

 

Please tell!

 

Well the hi-res extractions sound significantly better to me in regards to three dimensionality, inner detail and overall delicateness. It's particulary important in conveying the sound of the rooms accurately and since these were recorded with minimal mics that is a big deal to me. Most of these rooms have long reverb decay times (RT-60) and CD doesn't convey those slow gradual decays nearly as well as do the Hi-Res layers. As an example, a loud bass drum hit can linger in the room for several seconds or longer, and when properly reproduced, that helps the listener feel like he's in the room.

Remember that the farther the mics are from the performance, the more the sounds of the rooms come into play. Also because some of these are recorded with just two microphones, the resulting three dimensionality can be extremely captivating.

Keep in mind that I cherish these attributes and to many other members here they are not so important. If that is the case for you than you'll probably be pretty happy with the redbook rips. The bottom line is that the recordings in this series are very good regardless.

In my case, noting the differences between the two layers is a very fair comparaision since I play both from the same machine, the SB Transporter. The redbook rips sound pretty good until I compare them this way.

 

I just ordered:

Saint-Saens: Symphony No. 3, Debussy: La Mer - Munch SACD
Tchaikovsky & Rachmaninov: Piano Concertos - Van Cliburn SACD
Beethoven, Schumann: Piano Concertos - Van Cliburn, Fritz Reiner SACD
Richard Strauss: Also sprach Zarathustra, Ein Heldenleben - Reiner SACD
Chopin: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2 - Rubinstein SACD
Dvorak, Walton: Cello Concertos - Piatigorsky SACD
Beethoven: Piano Sonatas - Rubinstein SACD
Berlioz: Requiem - Munch SACD (2 discs)
Puccini: Turandot - Leinsdorf SACD (2 discs)

I have yet to really get into classical music. But my thoughts are if the Living Stereo SACD series goes OOP then I'll regret not buying them. I'll eventually get into Classical and with that I'll have a number of these very well reviewed SACDs that I can listen to .

Bill

 

These really do sound great. Get any of the discs with Heifetz as well, along with the Reiner Dvorak 9.

 

My guess is these will get you into classical music. If they won't, probably not much will.

For those that want to start with things they've heard before, HI Fi Fiedler has a very exciting version of the William Tell Overture, aka The Lone Ranger theme. Pictures at an Exhibition is also a very nice disc, but to tell the truth most of them are.

 

Thanks Greig, Much appreciated.

 

Good for you Doug for taking a leap of faith and investing in great Classical music. There's one title I would emphatically add from this series: Daphnis et Chloe by Ravel performed by Charles Munch and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. When I first got into classical music, impressionist composers like Ravel and Debussy were the easiest to digest and prepared me for more 'serious' composers like Beethoven and Brahms. Enjoy!!

 

Nice selection. These are so cheap you should get them all now if you have the cash, the majority are essential.

 

News to me. Thanks for the post. I missed out on this sale last year & am going to grab a bunch right now.

 

Thanks ! I did not want to go overboard with buying to many of the LS SACDs. Although I'm sure if the sale is on for awhile I'll buy some more . I based this purchase on the ratings on sa-cd.net as some of the LS SACDs are not well reviewed. As I mentioned earlier I'm not into classical music at this time as I'm still exploring jazz, which I'm enjoying very much. But I'm sure when things slow down and I have more time to listen to music I will enjoy these SACDs.

Bill

 

Saint-Saens: Symphony No. 3, Debussy: La Mer - Munch SACD
Tchaikovsky & Rachmaninov: Piano Concertos - Van Cliburn SACD
Beethoven, Schumann: Piano Concertos - Van Cliburn, Fritz Reiner SACD
Richard Strauss: Also sprach Zarathustra, Ein Heldenleben - Reiner SACD
Chopin: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2 - Rubinstein SACD
Dvorak, Walton: Cello Concertos - Piatigorsky SACD
Beethoven: Piano Sonatas - Rubinstein SACD
Berlioz: Requiem - Munch SACD (2 discs)
Puccini: Turandot - Leinsdorf SACD (2 discs)


Great picks - Pictures at Exhibition, Scheherazade, Bolero, and New World Symphony [9th] also get my highest recommendation [and I rarely give out kudos] for sound quality and performance. My feeling is get them now before they are $50+ each in a few years.

The thoroughly vile Brothers In Arms SACD is lauded there as well as other contenders for worst digital mastering's in history like Allman Bros Fillmore East SACD and Police Outlandos SACD. Personally I would not go there for advice. I will say this even the "worst" Living Stereo I've heard is light years better in sound quality than the Brothers In Arms 20th SACD and other low-end masterings that the folks at sa-cd.net love so very very much......

 

ricks,

You make a very good point and thanks for pointing that out . When I look at the reviews at sa-cd.net I also factor in the member that is leaving the review. If I see a review full of superlatives on a SACD like BIA I tend to dismiss that review . I normally check here first over sa-cd.net but wanted to grab my latest batch of LS SACDs before the sale ended.

Bill

 

The Living Stereo series is wonderful and one of the reasons I love SACD as much as I do. My first musical preference is rock, but these are a great introduction to classical music. Many of them put modern recordings to shame, and at these prices, an amazing bargain.

 

And there's no point in arguing with the folks over there at sa-cd.net about that either.

I am not so certain, though, that even the RCA Living Stereo reissues in DSD were all that good; and to add insult to injury, there were instances when — unlike their Mercury counterparts — they even futzed with the redbook layer so you really lost out if you dumped your original CDs. Of course, when I brought this up here years ago, I was chastised as some sort of pagan by the Hoffman brethren. Of course, this WOULD depend on just how good your audio systems actually are.

The series is wonderful, indeed, but please don't let that get in your way of finding some of the reasonably priced shaded dogs out there. I wish I could have taken advantage of those sales prices, but since I've had most of them since introduction...

 

Thank you for your answer!

 

I'm tempted to ask how you managed to rip the SACD layer but that's another thread! Beyond me, I'm sure.

 

These are marvelous and a great way to test your system for dynamic range.


But why are they going out of print??

If nothing else they are reason enough to buy a SACD player.

 

With so many good titles this outstanding series could have added, I was saddened to see that it was prematurely ended and allowed to go out of print. A shame, but not surprising given the nature of the current owner of the catalog.

 

After lurking many pages of this thread I started recently my first classical colllection with some Living Stereo SACD's. I purchased 'Pictures of an Exhibition' of mussogorsky and 'Bolero' of Ravel

I was, however, shocked after getting these with a small red note saying 'Newly Rematered...'

Maybe somewhere allready mentioned, but does that mean I got some of a lower quality?

I mean: why to remaster perfect albums?

Or are they, sonically speaking, the same?