Futher thoughts on recordings:
I just thought I ought to classify the obvious about records and the way they are recorded.
1. Audiophile recordings with good musical content and good recording technique.
An example of this would be Sheffield's 'Growing Up in Hollywood Town'- I
believe it even won a Grammy for its engineering, recording-wise.
2. Audiophile recordings with bad musical content, ie, bad performance and bad
tunes, but had good recording technique. An example of this is Cardas LP's
'Alive in Little Bridges'- I had played this to many people and they all say
the musical content is awful but the recording excellent. Since it has been
for sale for decades, they say I might have to PAY for someone to buy it.
3. Ordinary recordings (the $10 type or lower) that has great musical content
and great recording technique. My example would be Scepter's Dionne Warwick's
'I'll Never Fall in Love Again'. No compression or distortion at high volume levels,
which a lot or ordinary pressings tend to excel in. And, I just recall, 'Beverley
Craven' fits in this category.
4. Ordinary recordings that has great musical content but has bad recording. These
are the types wherein we buy our favorite artists on commercial labels then we
hear a lot of vinyl crackle, compression, and even distortion. Obviously, this is
the most frustrating type for an audiophile. And there are too many to mention
here.
And perhaps, a very revealing stereo system will tend to highlight a bad recording's
flaw while a more 'forgiving' system (those with rolled-off high's and lows), might tend
to mask the same. In any case, most of us will want to live with good content and
good recording technique.