Beethoven's 5th and 9th

Just managed to book for them on the 27th, both being played at the Royal Albert Hall by the Royal Philharmonic.

Is the Royal Philharmonic any good?

Not sure, they have been around since 1946 and respected here

bonzo said:

Just managed to book for them on the 27th, both being played at the Royal Albert Hall by the Royal Philharmonic.

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I have few orchestral music CD's. One of them is Beethoven Symphonie No.9 performed by the Wiener Philharmoniker and Karl Bohm. The recording company is Deutsche Grammophon. I enjoy listening to the second movement and the last movement.

My first Marantz player was a CD5004. I had requested the dealer to make sure that my particular player should be very adept at reproducing Orchestral music. He obliged, orchestral and Jazz sounded spectacular through the Motion 15. However, other genres of music not that good through Motion 15. Since orchestral music represents only 3 percent of the music I listen to I made the mistake of selling the CD5004 and buying instead CD6004. I had requested the dealer to make sure that all genres of music, and not only orchestral and jazz, should sound spectacular. The dealer tried his best but alas jazz and orchestra sounds good but not excellent like before with the CD5004. Rock, Pop music etc. recreated much better by CD6004.

Despite having Sony high end integrated amplifier and CD player and CLS, I always had to turn the volume up high to -16db to hear some force of the crescendo when listening to orchestral music. The conclusion I reached was that in addition to a flat response source, the CLS requires a very powerful main amplifier to give life to orchestral music.

The Audio Analysis loudspeakers, based on text i have read seem promising or very good.
However the Omega is priced close to the CLX. Having not listened to the CLX or the Omega hard to judge which is better. Many variables to keep in mind when making a purchase. Personal preferences for music and loudspeaker sound quality may be given the most weight. However other variables such as durability and after sale support are also important.

Hope you have fun at Royal Albert Hall listening to Royal Philharmonic.

I haven't heard the CLX, but extrapolating, i would say AA is better. Why? A stat panel cannot be as loud or dynamic as a non-stat panel like the Apogee or the AA. The vocals and baroque on CLX will do very well, but AA will hold its own. CLX for dynamics it will have to depend on the subs. And the CLX + BF subs are pretty costly, even the Analysis Amphitryon is much less

For soundstage and expanse hard to beat AA, though CLX will be quite good as it will be better than Summits. On vocals it will depend on preference - CLX like a Logan panel should be more transparent, AA more full bodied and thicker. For rock the subs from the CLX will be better than AA.

The Soundlabs is known to create those dynamics, and people who have heard both rate SL higher. It goes deeper.

Just realized the 5th is not the symphony but the 5th piano concerto. Oh well, still good

Bernard said:

Is the Royal Philharmonic any good?

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Royal Philharmonic - yes.
Royal Albert acoustics..... NO.

Agreed, I prefer ST. Martin's much more, and the opera house

bonzo said:

Just realized the 5th is not the symphony but the 5th piano concerto. Oh well, still good

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Yes, I was thinking that it was unusual to program two major symphonies in the same evening. I really enjoy the 5th Piano Concerto; who's the soloist?

Watching Clockwork Orange tonight in preparation for the live show of the 9th at RAH tomorrow

It was Clockwork Orange that got me started in classical music.

Bernard said:

It was Clockwork Orange that got me started in classical music.

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Wow that's quite something. I new the Ode to Joy well back then, I actually started listening to it because Ritchie Blackmore had done a superb cover in the album Finyl Vinyl, but watching the Clockwork Orange back in 2000 (when I first watched it) made the movement more fun to listen to.

Is that what got you started in wine as well

bonzo said:

Wow that's quite something. I new the Ode to Joy well back then, I actually started listening to it because Ritchie Blackmore had done a superb cover in the album Finyl Vinyl, but watching the Clockwork Orange back in 2000 (when I first watched it) made the movement more fun to listen to.

Is that what got you started in wine as well

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I watched Clockwork Orange in the early 70s, when it was released.

I don't remember wine in the movie, but that was over 40 years ago. I first remember drinking wine at university department parties. It was cheap plonk, of course. I gradually graduated to the better stuff. Wine here is expensive - no competition as the province has a monopoly.

Watch this

Kedar, how was the concert, and who was the pianist?

The concert was good. I throughly enjoyed the 9th. Unfortunately the acoustics are not the best at RAH. We were in the stalls, at 8 o clock to the conductor's back. The chorus and the tenors/sopranos were a bit low volume, especially the soloists. I think at RAH the best seat is a middle front seat, rather than sitting at the back.

Teo Gheorghiu was the pianist. The piano concerto was good, but acoustically the piano that I have heard at St. Martin's (moonlight sonata), Wigmore Hall (Schubert's pieces with a tenor), and Purcell room at Southbank (Rachminov and Shostakovich) were far superior.

I think the smaller venues which house baroque ensembles and piano have better acoustics due to the smallness, while few venues can house a full symphony orchestra (Royal Albert and Royal Festival Hall). The latter two, especially RAH, lose out on acoustics.

That said, I had once seen some classical pieces of which Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance was one, and that is best experienced at RAH because the entire audience began to sing along and we had 3 encores, felt like a rock show instead of a classical concert.

Bernard said:

I watched Clockwork Orange in the early 70s, when it was released.

I don't remember wine in the movie, but that was over 40 years ago. I first remember drinking wine at university department parties. It was cheap plonk, of course. I gradually graduated to the better stuff. Wine here is expensive - no competition as the province has a monopoly.

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I originally watched the movie in 1971 when it was released. The poetry of motion and sound was stunning for its day. Several things have stuck with me over the 43 years since. The linking of the song "Singing in the Rain" and the rape scene are forever one in my mind. When I have a bottle of wine and I am ready to pour for someone, I ask "More Wine?" in a wobbly voice. And when I see a politician, I see him with a fork feeding the public nonsense. At any rate, when ask by friends what are my favorite movies of all time I put this one at number 2.

Gary

Herbert von Karajan to a New York taxi-driver who asked him where he wanted to go: ‘It doesn’t matter: I am in demand everywhere!’

Wow same conductor and orchestra at the Barbican yesterday, so much better and more enjoyable than the Royal Albert Hall

Kedar, did you measure the orchestra SPL with your phone? I would like to know the SPL on symphonic orchestras at the loudest parts. Can you, please?
Regards and with the best for this coming new year!