Beating the RVG Horse

RVG didn't necessarily make his recordings to sound good on a high end system, so if you need to rationalize you could say that by using the tone controls you may well be getting the sound he originally intended. My view is that if tone controls can let you enjoy the music you want to hear on an otherwise unlistenable recording, it's a no-brainer to do so. By definition it's not the Mona Lisa that you're messing with here, after all.

I haven't found that all of the RVG CDs I've bought have sounded tipped-up, but tipped-up or not they're certainly smoother texturally than most of the older Blue Note CDs. But to the point of your post, you can't know, between the response changes imposed by the original recording, the remastering, and your system and room, what the original performance really sounded like -- and even if you could, as I said it couldn't be accurately captured and reproduced anyway. So for all you know, when you adjust the tone controls to make the end result sound 'better' to you, you may well be making it sound more faithful to the original performance as well. Stop "beating the horse" (and yourself) and just ride it.

Yes, I suppose "if it sounds better is it better" is a good way to think about it. Plus, I have pretty much concluded that my 120 watt Rotel amp doesn't generate enough current to really drive my Spendor S8s. It never seems like it has enough juice to get the bass really cooking.

Thanks guys.

I have an all tube SET based system and all the RVG's recordings(LPs of course) that I have sound very nice.

Grimace, I'm with you. I research and try to do my due diligence not to purchase any more RVG remasters. It is amazing to me how much more presence, fullness and bass some cd's can add or take away from system performance. When I land a sonically-well extended Jazz cd , I say "yeah" and then I research the person doing the remastering and the label. I start looking for more of the classics remasterd by that individual. Recently a good sounding Jazz cd I purchased is "Tetragon" by Joe Henderson remastered by Phil de Lancie on the Fantasy label. Compared to my Blue note RVG remsaster of Joe Henderson "Page One," "Tetragon" has much more presence, fulness bass extension etc. I really dislike thin sound. The paricular software I use truly makes a big difference in my system performance. At the reverse, a Kenny Dorham Cd "Quiet Kenny" that I purchased in error(missed the RVG remaster label), lacks mid and low end weight-sounds rather thin on my system. I said before, for a fan of true classic jazz, hard bop etc. some of the greatest recordings of all time are part of the Blue note RVG series. It's unavoidable. I have quite a few of these recordings. I try to listen and just enjoy the artistry and forget about bass and mids weight. And for vinyl guys who would suggest I go vinyl- going vinyl is impossible for me right now. I don't have room for a turntable in my setup. In the future maybe.