Living Stereo Reissues issues

[JimJupiter]

Several years ago, I bought a dozen RCA Living Stereo reissues on cd. I think it was from an ad in either TAS or Stereophile. Anyway, the imaging on these recordings has always come out... well, strange through my CLS's.

They're all big orchestral recordings (I have a particular jones for Reiner/CSO). Like other recordings (Living Presence, RCA, Telarc, Naxos...), the sound extends along a plane behind the speakers. Unlike those other recordings, I also hear the string sections, both left and right, "stuck" onto the front surface of the speakers instead of disappearing into the space behind with the rest of the orchestra.

Has anyone else had the same experience with these recordings? I seem to remember reading somewhere that some runs of those reissues were flawed. Do ya think I got me a bad batch?

JJ.

 

[MiTT]

Funny you should ask...

I have multiple copies of Reiner and the CSO doing "Sharazade" on LP, CD and SACD.

My CD seems to have the exact same issue you are describing. I had listened to the LP a few weeks ago and last night I threw on the SACD and was very pleased with how much more like the LP it sounded, especially with respect to soundstage width and depth as well as image localization.

Yeah, my CD version sounds flawed to me.

 

[tonepub]

They were all pretty flawed for the same results you noticed....

They're all marginal. Sorry about that. I bought some of em too!

 

[JimJupiter]

Hello MITT,

That's really interesting that the SACD would sound so noticeably better. As a neophyte collector of classical, I rarely have multiple recordings of the same work to compare/contrast. At least I am relieved that it's not just something peculiar to my system. I like the music despite the flaws in the recordings and its nice to know that better copies exist.

As someone straddling the low rungs of the high-end, I am cost conscious to a fault... still you make me wonder if SACD is something I should look into. Frankly, I never thought it could make much a difference, especially in my meager system (cheap Rotel amplification, a Nakamichi cd changer, and CLSs). Have you heard SACD from this sort of setup (read "cheap")?

JJ.

 

[JimJupiter]

They were all pretty flawed for the same results you noticed....

They're all marginal. Sorry about that. I bought some of em too!

Well misery loves company. So, thanks. Still, Reiner fronting the CSO is the lineup that got me to reconsider classical as something more than upper-crust muzak... so I'll hang onto 'em.

At least now I know and can stop kvetching that I was a lone victim of marketing hype and poor remastering.

Cheers!
JJ.