Best Quality Recording On Vynil

I'd pretty much second Viridian's comments, but will add one or two further remarks. I tend to distinguish the musical performance from the audio quality -- there are some superbly recorded LP's that aren't very interesting from a performance standpoint. Very few "audiophile" recordings have great performance AND great sound.

I think one of the most realistic recordings I've heard is the Reference Recording LP of Berlioz's "Symphonie Fantastique", conducted by Verujian Kojian. The 4th and 5th movements are simply astounding when heard on a really good, full-range system.

As a body of work, the Sheffield recordings are probably the "gold standard" for D-to-D recordings, but I'd have to include the M&K recording titled "For Duke" among the top several, and some of the EastWind recordings ("The Three", "LA Four", etc.) are superb.

Last, one of my personal favorites is an LP released in the early 1980's by Wilson Audio called "Magnum Opus", which is a taped recording of the Flentrop organ in St. Mark's Cathedral in Seattle, WA. The cathedral is rather large and boxy, with a reverb decay time of 6-7 seconds, and this recording is as close to the actual sound of that organ as anything I've ever heard. If you ever find a copy of this LP, buy it -- even if you don't like organ music.

Among the larger labels, there is a group that consistently manages to produce good-to-excellent performances AND good-to-excellent sound quality. The obvious choices are the RCA "Living Stereo" releases of the mid-1950's to early 1960's, and the Mercury "Living Presence" LP's of that same era. I'd add to that list: Harmonia Mundi; Decca; London; BIS; Opus; Nimbus; Lyrica; Vanguard (mostly their folk releases); and some of the Supraphon and Hungaraton releases.

When it comes to jazz, I've been pleased with many of the LP's by Contemporary Records from the late 1950's and early 1960's that were engineered by Roy DuNann; many of the Blue Note recordings of that era by Rudy Van Gelder; ECM; some of the recordings on Verve, Atlantic, and Riverside; and most of the releases on the "Black Saint" and "Soul Note" labels (an Italian company, owned by Giovanni Bonandrini).

Sdcampbell's comments are right on target for me, and I'll largely just add "ditto" - including the recommended labels for classical music. My additions would be: (1) many of the reissues of the RCA, DECCA and Mercury classical LPs are superb, and (2) those who enjoy classical music should explore Arthur Salvatore's "Supreme Recordings" list (all vinyl). I agree with virtually all of his recommendations based on sonics. (Don't miss the detailed descriptions on succeeding pages of his web site.)
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sdcampbell wasn't 'magnum opus' a song Kansas's Leftoverture?

The best vynil isn't for me the albumn with the best sonics etc. It is for most vynil users I know, the ones that moves you, sends shivers down your back. Even, move you to tears.
If you cannot get that from your equipment, go to the next choice, what album to you what to play again as soon as it has finished.
Cheers Tabard

I once owned an early, early copy of "Dark Side of the Moon" when it was first released. I was just a college sophomore when I bought it. Somehwere along the way, I decided to include it among a ton of albums I sold to Aron's Records in Hollywood. I wish I never got rid of it now. It was definitely a well-produced recording. By contrast, I have a British Harvest/EMI copy of Pink Floyd's "Meddle," and I think this album sounds horrible. Not in the same league with "Dark Side." Just my opinion.