Speaker's Corner Re-Issues

Any good? I saw a copy of "THE GRADUATE" soundtrack sealed on Speaker's Corner at one of my local shops and wanted to know if Speaker's Corner usually go a good job, use analogue sources, good pressing plants, etc? Thanks!

 

Mixed bag, but usually good.
They sometimes master themselves from near original analogue sources is my understanding, but sometimes get metals from US remasters, e.g. Steve Hoffman's Elvis is Back (DCC), Kevin Gray's Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Duke Ellington Songbook, or Ryan Smith's Sterling Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong's Porgy and Bess.

 

There's this thing called google ...
From the Speakers Corner website -

Are your records completely analogue?
Yes! This we guarantee!
As a matter of principle, only analogue masters are used, and the necessary cutting delay is also analogue. All our cutting engineers use only Neumann cutting consoles, and these too are analogue. The only exception is where a recording has been made – either partly or entirely – using digital technology, but we do not have such items in our catalogue at the present time. Please read the article “Truly analogue?”.

Are your records cut from the original masters?
In our re-releases it is our aim to faithfully reproduce the original intentions of the musicians and recording engineers which, however, could not be realised at the time due to technical limitations.
Faithfulness to the original is our top priority, not the interpretation of the original: there is no such thing as a “Speakers Corner Sound”. Naturally, the best results are obtained when the original master is used. Therefore we always try to locate these and use them for cutting. Should this not be possible, – because the original tape is defective or has disappeared, for example – we do accept a first-generation copy. But this remains an absolute exception for us.

 

I know I can google and I appreciate your sardonic jabs.. But, I look to personal experiences from those who may own the vinyl or from vinyl junkies versus input from what some marketing schlub puts on a website. Though it did answer two of my questions, so thank you...

For me, asking this crowd is like using Yelp for restaurant reviews vs. the LA Times...

 

I have a Wizz Jones' LP on that label and it's flawless. Highly recommended.

 

I have many Speakers Corner LP's. All great.
Santana "Caravanserai", Hot Tuna "Burgers", Mahavishnu Orchestra "The Inner Mounting Flame",
Oscar Peterson Trio + One w/Clark Terry, Byrds Greatest Hits, JJ Cale "Naturally",
Jeff Beck Group "Rough and Ready", Fleetwood Mac "Pious Bird ..."
That's off the top of my head.
All quiet, flat and gorgeous.

If you search on this site for the album you are thinking about I can pretty much guarantee you will find the information you need.
There are also many threads about record labels.

 

A Johnny Cash Live At San Quentin, that I let slip through my fingers earlier today, in our classifieds, plus another guy's WTB for Supertramp's Crime Of The Century got me obsessing about these pressings now.

Proud owner of :

The Captain And Me - The Doobie Brothers
Can't Buy A Thrill - Steely Dan
Burgers - Hot Tuna

Wonder about Kansas' Leftoverture, but always play my ultra clean Kirshner/CBS copy from 1976, then change my mind about buying a Speakers Corner copy.
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I have many SC LPs, jazz and classical, collected over many years. All are flawless and the sound quality is superb. And in the UK the price is affordable compared to US audiophile labels.

 

I own several, Yellow Brick Road, Can't Buy A Thrill, and Crime of the Century and even though they are well pressed and superb pressings, I find them lacking low end and overly bright.

 

I only have two SC LPs, Pink Panther's soundtrack and We get requests-Oscar Peterson both sound great, flawless pressing not a single click or pop very impressive.

 

Just ordered Johnny Cash's Live At San Quentin, and Janis' I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama !

(20% off at Acoustic Sounds).

Also didn't know 3 members of Steppenwolf played on Janis' album, either !!!!
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I have the "Speakers Corners" LP pressing of Jose Feliciano's "Feliciano" album. I'm really familiar with that old album, since it was new back in the '60's and through the years, I've heard many different LP pressings of this album on RCA and something is just NOT RIGHT, with that "Speakers Corners" pressing. Some bad, bad issues with the lows, mid's and high end on this pressing and I find it a sonic mess!I was truly surprised, especially about almost always reading such good reviews about their products on this forum, to be honest!

Avoid their "Feliciano" LP ..., trust me!

 

Never been a fan, NO problem. I'll avoid wax beans too.

 

does anyone have their reissues of 'wear your love like heaven' by donovan and/or 'orange blossom special' by johnny cash ? …… i'm curious about those two …… hmmmm

 

I have the Donovan Wear Your Love Like Heaven and it is simply superb. I could not recommend it more highly. It's the kind of thing I would use as a demonstration record if a) I had any friends, and b) they wanted to hear how great my stereo was. But it's of that quality.

It was mentioned on this thread that the three Speakers Corner records (Yellow Brick Road, Can't Buy a Thrill, Crime of the Century) one of our members has were found "... lacking low end and overly bright."

I don't own Yellow Brick Road but I've read reviews that Speakers Corner brought nothing special to that offering.

Can't Buy a Thrill, I had never considered bright but it is a little light in the bass. That said, the opening track, Do it Again, is as fine a thing as have ever come forth from my speakers. It's otherworldly. I've got a traditional and a test pressing of that one.

Crime of the Century, again I had never considered it bright but, like Can't Buy a Thrill, the bass is nothing special. I don't think it was ever real prominent. There is some low frequency bass and they get that done but it's not particularly full or punchy. I have no issue with it. I get a little bit of inner groove distortion on mine on the last cuts. This too is a test pressing and maybe they addressed that on the traditional pressings. It's not a disaster.

I Got Dem 'Ol Kozmic Blues Again Mama was also mentioned on this thread. Now here's one that is a bass lovers tonic. The bass on this album will right what ails you. So no, I would not agree that Speakers Corner issues are categorically light on the bass. This one is superb and then some.

Speakers Corner has a sister label, Pure Pleasure, and I have had some issues with the pressings per se on that label. My hearty recommendation on Speakers Corner is not categorically conferred upon Pure Pleasure records.

 

Curious now about Days Of Future Passed.

Also I have a WTB for Leftoverture.
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I've got Days of Future Passed. It's fantastic as well. My copy has a little bit of periodic surface noise but I doubt it is endemic to that title. I probably just got a piece of vinyl with some surface noise. Ha. Yes, Days of Future Passed is worth owning. There are some gossamer percussive flourishes -- maybe drums or bells or triangles, that sort of thing -- that are just delightful. This is an album that I will put on when I've made a change to my system (cables, power cord upgrade) to see if I got my money's worth. There are just some real fine, gossamer, penumbral, shadow and light sort of delicacies that make this one a treat.

 

I just saw where a guy on eBay sold one for $9.95 ?!?!?!?!? Maybe I missed the condition, but damn.
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Since I do have that WTB out there, can anyone say anything about Leftoverture ?

As I said above, my original Kirshner is nice, and clean, with no skips, or surface noise.
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Old, locked threads asking if Kevin Gray cut Leftoverture for Speakers Corner ? Question never answered, and I've looked everywhere !?!?

 

I have quite a few and most are quiet and give about as good SQ as any original pressing of the same album. However, not all are flawless; I've had a few with surface noise and the endemic problem of "dished" vinyl which affects most new releases, doesn't escape SC either. Would I recommend them? Yes, but as with ALL vinyl pressing outfits today, you have to slightly lower your expectations a bit. SC beats Sundazed for me anyway. I've had a few Sundazed and I wouldn't touch any more with a barge pole - far too noisy.

 

I've only two Speakers Corner titles in my collection; Elvis Presley's 'Elvis is Back!' and Lou Reed's 'Transformer'- both are flawless and sound just fantastic.

 

MYKE, according to the following link that I found, which features some actual audio from the Speakers Corner LP, claims that Kevin did NOT master this ...



Speakers Corner Records ‎– JZ 34224, Kirshner ‎– JZ 34224 - 180g Audiophile LP
Country: Germany
Released: 08 Aug 2008

Mastered by Maarten de Boer at EBS, Hannover

 

Much appreciated. - Mike
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