Future of Classic Records??

Has anyone heard Classic's pressing of Sinatra's 'The Voice'? It's still at Music Direct at regular price. Should I pounce?

I've also wanted to buy The Little Willies, I love that CD. It's gone now but maybe I can find it somewhere online.

dan c

 

<<I saw the Brubeck Time Out 45 RPM Clarity vinyl sets. Only for sale in international markets. Hmm.>>

This pisses me off. I ordered my 45RPM set of Time Out from TheMusic.com shortly after I received an e-mail from Classic Records announcing this release. My order has been pending with TheMusic.com since June of last year.

<<TheMusic.com will continue, that's what I was led to believe. Probably not in the big warehouse, though. It is looking pretty empty in there.>>

So does TheMusic.com have any Classic Records inventory left? They still have a bunch of titles for sale on their web site at non-panic prices. Nobody there has returned my phone calls or responded to my e-mails. (Guess they learned everything about customer service from CR.)

<<I bought one of the last Beethoven Josef Krips boxes.>>

Were any of the HDAD box sets produced? The box set is listed as a pre-sale item on the Acoustic Sounds web site.

 

This is the bottom line isn't it?

 

I ordered Peter Gabriel Security 45RPM two days ago from Elusive Disc for $50. They are still showing it available for that price. The rest of the PG 45RPM except for PG 2 are out of stock. In case anyone is interested.

 

Well, this is what we call "classic" capitalism. I will miss Classic Records. I enjoyed the mastering and my only issues were the pressing defects I encountered. I think some of my favorites are off the top of my head Belfonte at Canergie Hall, Belafonte Sings the Blues, G Nash - Songs for Beginners (lovely remix), Some Led Zepplins. Time Out, Bridge Over Troubled Water, some Who titles and several Jazz ones. I have most likely over one hundered different titles from them. Most sound great!

 

Definitely, it's not to be missed. Head-and-shoulders above the original 6-eye.

PS-My copy has the labels on the wrong sides but in RTI's defense there is no printing on them to indicate which side is which. The vinyl itself is perfect.

 

Another great thing that Classic Records acheived was releasing a lot of titles. None of this a few here and there. They put out a lot of titles over the years. I still don't know what to make of the AS news. Are these titles officially oop yet or is it just charging what they want? I grabbed a few more titles today at normal prices even though I should be hoarding cash for normal expenses. There were some I meant to pick up a long time ago. Sigh......

 

If you're buying this stuff because you want to listen to it and the price is acceptable, go for it.

If you're buying as an investment, I'd say the ship has sailed. The current seller has already factored in appreciation if held in their warehouse versus selling the stuff now. In other words, the stuff is being sold primarily as collectibles, and as such, you rarely make much as an "investment".

I am not a fan of this type of pricing, and I can easily ignore all the future sales.

 

I first met Mike Hobson back around 92 when the Absolute Sound wrote about his venture into releasing the RCA catelog. He invited me to his loft in lower Manhattan. He really had a passion to the music.
I'm sure this business can wear the best down. It can't be easy.

As far as AS goes, if they priced them at MSRP everyone would buy them and turn around and do the Ebay thing, so why shouldn't Chad profit.

These titles have been around a while, you had your chance. I wanted the LZ 45rpm box set but kept trying to "get a deal" I lost. That's the game.

 

Although I understand where you are coming from... I am not so sure that Acoustic Sounds (or all other on-line vendors) should profit as you indicate. I am sure by even selling these at MSRP, they would profit - probably even moreso now that Classic may be out of business (do we know if the stock was unloaded to AS at a "reduced" bulk rate????).

Case in point are the most recent 45rpm Clarity vinyl releases of the Peter Gabriel issues. They just came out a few months ago, and Peter Gabriel 4 (Security) even less time than that. It isn't like these have been "around a while".. and many people were expecting Classic to continue on as usual (even they indicated that in an e-mail to Steve's website -which he re-posted in this thread). Maybe some people couldn't afford to purchase these right around or after XMAS when they were released and were holding out a few months. But now they have to pay, at least, from what I saw yesterday, $75.00. I would hazard to guess as stock dwindles even more, the price may hit $99.00.

It isn't like those titles were around long enough for people to now be charged more for them just because.

But isn't that usually Acoustic Sounds, Elusive Discs and even Music Direct's MO? As stock on in-demand items dwindles, and no more will be made available, the going prices rise?

I guess it's just business as usual. (And I frequent and purchase quite a bit from Music Direct, Elusive Disc and Acoustic Sounds..... but I refuse to pay more when an item becomes scare ...)

 

I second The Voice on Classic. Terrific sound and performance.

 

You´re damn right there.

I will surely miss Classic Records.

 

This really is BS. Case in point, I places an order to Elusive Disc last Friday. Two of the four LP's were Classic titles that were in stock and w/ normal inflated Classic prices. On Monday all of the Classic titles took a sudden jump in price on their website. Well, guess what? all of a sudden the Classic titles that were in stock are suddenly on back order. These business practices really leave a bad taste in my mouth. I won't be giving any of these online retailers any more of my business with this price gouging. Just my opinion and I'm sticking to it.

 

I would describe it as close to perfect. Sides 1-3 play dead quiet, with side 4 being dead quiet as well except for two loud pops near the beginning of We're Not Gonna Take It. The spindle holes are centred and the vinyl is blemish free and glossy although there is a very, very slight warp to both LP's. I'm very happy with it and have wanted this title ever since reading The Vinyl Anachronist's comments about it a few years back.

 

Good for you! Don't put up with the price hikes in order for them to make a bundle off of another companies troubles.

 

I placed an order with Acoustic Sounds for Who's Next 200g. It was 39.99, so not bad at all. I was waiting and hoping for a 45RPM set, but I guess that ain't gonna happen. It would have been amazing.

 

No, can't be....Michael Fremer said that Classic is all fine and good, and he is never wrong!!!

 

Guess I'm lucky.
Not a vinyl guy so the only Classic releases I'm interested in are the DADs and HDADs.
There is only one, maybe 2 that I need and both are still out there at reasonable prices.

And speaking of Classic CDs, I stumbled on a sealed copy of the Desmond Blue 24K disc today

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

BTW, these guys still seem to have some LP stock available, though I'm not sure if the pricing is good or not (Led Zep IV is pretty scary).

http://www.audiobasics.com/acatalog/Classic_Record.html

Have dealt with them a few times, excellent service and packaging. Volume discounts and free shipping over a certain total price threshold. (I am not affiliated with them).

 

Something smells very, very VERY fishy here.

 

Thats exactly what I've been thinking about! This just doesn't sound right.
Just because the distribution changed, existing prices of titles had no need of going up. Suddenly almost ALL Classic records have prices tearing through the roof!

Nonsense!

 

...and somehow showing up at many places as in stock when a few days ago were mostly out of stock yet higher prices? Maybe some planned hoarding until this announcement? I'm going back to 8 tracks!!

 

No, it's quite obvious what is happening. Some people just have to be hit over the head with it, I guess.

 

Well, perhaps when the dust settles some titles will be reasonable prices on Ebay and some will be very expensive. OOP doesn't always mean high prices for everything. I've brought some nice DCC titles for below their original retail prices on some lucky auctions in the last few years. This reminds me of the scramble when they went out of business. I remember the price jumps. I was lucky then to pick up a Nat King Cole title for normal price a week or two after the news hit. I remember the site I brought it from raised their prices right after my copy shipped because they became wise (or maybe greedy?). This "market" value claims of pricing is what is the negative side of the audiophile record/CD world. This isn't the damn stock market. Do they really ever lower the prices when there is slow demand?

 

I have a question: is there an issue with the sound on the most recent Classic pressing of KIND OF BLUE? I have heard people say that it doesn't sound right, but I wanted to confirm with folks here to see what they know about it.

I agree, this is very fishy too - but remember, this IS Classic we are talking about.

 

The thing is, we have a handful of etailers that serve our needs. They should have some courtesy and not take advantage of Classic records unfortunate predicament.

There are obviously changes happening within Classic records be it location change, distribution change or whatnot. I really did expect a little more care from our neighborhood etailers. Tsk tsk tsk. Taking advantage of the situation to make a few more bucks? C'mon! You lose loyal customers when you do "cheap" things like that.

I spend $500 to $600 every month on records and now I will be reconsidering where those $'s go.

Market economics? Demand and Supply? What hogwash... I hardly ever see retail prices go down when sales are low. Always there is a tendency for prices to shoot up very high though!