I bought the second volume of Mercury Living Presence release, about 55 discs, for about $100. I was debating this one for a few days, as I already head about 15% of the contents in my collection, but I noted that the first volume, which I didn't purchase, is now fetching $600 on resale sights. I am enjo ying this purchase immensely and have only heard about 8 discs.
In the last year I have bought the following large box collections, all for about $1-$2 per disc: Ormandy , a Serkin Beethoven set; Gilels; Oistrakh/EMI; Walter/Mahler; Arrau/Beethoven; Schiff/Schubert; and probably a few others that I can't think of right now. These have been the bulk of my listening for the past year.
I wonder if the back catalog will keep rolling out like this for the next few years, or whether this bonanza is going to dry up. Not only are most of these releases a great bargain, but most of them are remastered and sound just great. The Mercury set that I referenced earlier supposedly was not an improved remastering from it's early 1990s relase, but I did compare one of the discs that I already had to the same recording in the new box and the new one sounds more realistic with great hall ambiance.
If this back catalog sell off continues I may never need to get into downloads. Repurchasing these same recordings as High Res downloads would average about $16/disc, and I don't like the hastle. I guess I will need to buy some more CD storage space. I'm taking a new position at work that is only a 3 block walk from home, so I could always sell off the car, use the proceeds for more CDs, and the garage to store them in
In the last year I have bought the following large box collections, all for about $1-$2 per disc: Ormandy , a Serkin Beethoven set; Gilels; Oistrakh/EMI; Walter/Mahler; Arrau/Beethoven; Schiff/Schubert; and probably a few others that I can't think of right now. These have been the bulk of my listening for the past year.
I wonder if the back catalog will keep rolling out like this for the next few years, or whether this bonanza is going to dry up. Not only are most of these releases a great bargain, but most of them are remastered and sound just great. The Mercury set that I referenced earlier supposedly was not an improved remastering from it's early 1990s relase, but I did compare one of the discs that I already had to the same recording in the new box and the new one sounds more realistic with great hall ambiance.
If this back catalog sell off continues I may never need to get into downloads. Repurchasing these same recordings as High Res downloads would average about $16/disc, and I don't like the hastle. I guess I will need to buy some more CD storage space. I'm taking a new position at work that is only a 3 block walk from home, so I could always sell off the car, use the proceeds for more CDs, and the garage to store them in
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