Crappy sounding "audiophile" LP's?


Hi,
Now that my system configuration is stable (for the time being, anyway) I've been dusting off music I haven't played in awhile, or in some cases, bought years ago but rarely or even never played. In the latter category are a group of audiophile LP's I bought in the mid to late 1980's, usually because TAS raved about them, they weren't that expensive back then, and I didn't know any better. :-)
So I finally listened to the Chesky LP reissue of "Scheherezade" by Reiner and the Chicago Symphony, and to the Chesky LP of a Sibelius Symphony (can't remember which one right now). These two, plus an LP on the Lyrita label of a composition by the British composer William Allwyn ("The Magic Island," I think) sound glorious, i.e., equal to the TAS hype. Great performances, too, of course.
I then dusted off a Sheffield Labs direct-to-disc LP called "Tower Of Power Direct." To my ears, it sounds lousy: bright, congealed, airless sound.
So I'm wondering if you folks have encountered "audiophile" recordings that didn't sound good to your ears, either.
rebbi
There are great sounding "audiophile" LPs. The Stockfisch label is another one that deserves mention IMO. What really hooked me on vinyl was the amazing SQ of many $3.00 used LPs. As a recent example, pick up a clean looking original Jim Croce LP the next time you see one. They're always around $3.00 and IMO are an example of SQ that surpasses most $50.00 45 rpm double LP reissues. That hasn't stopped me from buying my share of audiophile vinyl though.
Alonski,
More than just a few people would nod their heads in approval of your "rant". Quite a number have 'been there and done that'.
Regards,
I know the guitarist who played on the album, Willie Fulton. He is an audiophile and he too felt that it missed the mark. You are much better off getting their seminal effort, "Back to Oakland", but that's just my opionion.

DD recording was a crap shoot as the engineer must set the gain levels as the band is playing. No second chances, unless you start all over again. It created some overly cautious playing and some really bad recordings. Thelma Huston and Pressure cooker has one side recorded way too hot.

But when it works, I think that it's as close as an LP is going to get to live. The first Harry James album on Sheffeild and the Klemmer LP are good examples of DD done right.

Oh, and if you like those two Chesky LPs, you really need to get their reissue of "The Power Of The Orchestra"; it's off the chart.
Rebbi ... First of all, Chesky is top of the line as u have found.
Secondly, I have been taken in too many times by these "new" audiophile records and will never fall for their sales pitch again. These newly pressed records are not up to the quality of earlier pressed vinyl.
The only Chesky lp I purchased was Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition.

I was convinced that the a trick was played at the mixing deck, boosting the volume/dynamics on a standout instrument at the beginning of the record. It really turned me off.

Anyone else have a similar experience?