Thanks Rebbi and Almarg for the Chesky recommendations. I didn't know about them. If anyone is a Dvorak fan I can also recommend the late 1950's "Stereorama" George Szell Cleveland recordings. Crystal clear.
Charles, I have CSO/Renier Bartok RCA Living Presence from the mid fifties. As you mention, layers of depth and clarity. Of course all of these recordings were done with tube gear and its no wonder they sound so good.
Its nice to be listening to a SET amp putting out 8-10watts and able to shake the walls with an orchestra crescendo and one second later be totally drawn into the spooky layers and room filling depth of a quite moment where the strings are shimmering and woodwinds are playing a quite melody. Or have Sarah Vaughan singing right before my eyes in my living room or Peter Gabriel or St Vincent or Pink Floyd rocking out and the the groove is so convincing that my whole body is moving in my listening seat. With Rock recordings a SET amp does some special things. Since there is so much ambient (reverb) used on many of these recordings a SET amp presents the ambient info as various layers that float into the listening room with richness depth and clarity but also as a musical whole. And they are easy to build- Magic!
Charles, I have CSO/Renier Bartok RCA Living Presence from the mid fifties. As you mention, layers of depth and clarity. Of course all of these recordings were done with tube gear and its no wonder they sound so good.
Its nice to be listening to a SET amp putting out 8-10watts and able to shake the walls with an orchestra crescendo and one second later be totally drawn into the spooky layers and room filling depth of a quite moment where the strings are shimmering and woodwinds are playing a quite melody. Or have Sarah Vaughan singing right before my eyes in my living room or Peter Gabriel or St Vincent or Pink Floyd rocking out and the the groove is so convincing that my whole body is moving in my listening seat. With Rock recordings a SET amp does some special things. Since there is so much ambient (reverb) used on many of these recordings a SET amp presents the ambient info as various layers that float into the listening room with richness depth and clarity but also as a musical whole. And they are easy to build- Magic!