Bargains

[mathias broucek]

You recommend the Icon box - so I'll watch out for it - but hopefully when it is on sale somewhere. What is particularly good in that box - or is it all good?https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sibelius-Co...s=music&sr=1-2

I bought it when I was in Japan (it was cheaper there) along with a LOT of other stuff but based on what I've heard so far:

The Grieg material is excellent and there are also some short works by less familiar Scandi composers that are rather lovely
I've only heard the 6th so far of the Shostakovich and it's top notch, assuming you're OK with something dour rather than flashy. The Shostakovich is the main reason I bought the box as the separate discs are $$$ for some reason and I used to love the cassette (long dead) I had of the Leningrad
The RVW6 is truly outstanding - one of the best I've heard
I'd never heard Prokofiev's "Betrothal in a Monastery" before and it's quite a "find"
Miracle in the Gorbals (Suite) was also new to me and again it's an impressive work and (so far as I could tell) well performed
Probably the best Kullervo I've heard (second recording- Helsinki)

[muzzer]

Thanks so much for the Kubelik Mahler box tip, it arrived today and sounds marvellous.

[Dave2002]

Thanks so much for the Kubelik Mahler box tip, it arrived today and sounds marvellous.

Tempting, but I have the earlier Kubelik symphony Edition, so I suppose I'd have to justify it by hopefully better quality audio.

[Bryn]

Tempting, but I have the earlier Kubelik symphony Edition, so I suppose I'd have to justify it by hopefully better quality audio.

One review I have read claims the CDs were not remastered, only the Blu-ray. If so, it seems a bit strange.

[Bryn]

Just looked to see if there is a lot of overlap between the Berglund Icon box, and the Sibelius box which I mentioned. Not too much overlap. Apart from the Kullervo symphony, there are no Sibelius symphonies in the Icon box, and I'm guessing that some of the Sibelius in the Icon collection (such as Kullervo) are with the Bournemouth orchestra - though nothing wrong with that.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Icon-Paavo-Berglund/dp/B00DKAH74Y?SubscriptionId=AKIAILSHYYTFIVPWUY6Q&tag=duckduckgo-ffab-uk-21&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B00DKAH74Y

You recommend the Icon box - so I'll watch out for it - but hopefully when it is on sale somewhere. What is particularly good in that box - or is it all good?

I really do recommend Berglund's Sibelius symphony recordings - if you haven't already got any, either with the Finnish orchestra or the BSO. The BSO set is here - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sibelius-Co...s=music&sr=1-2

I placed an order for the new Warner Sibelius/Berglund/Helsinki boxed set on |Saturday, then discovered that there was less than 21 minutes (the two little cantatas) that I did not already have on double albums or in the Berglund Bournemouth Years box. I swiftly tried to cancel but was just that little bit too slow. The boxed set arrived today. I must say I do rather like the slip-case designs, based on those of the original LP sleeves. The double albums (but not the Icon box) will now have to find new homes.

[muzzer]

I look forward to my allinonestreamerbox righting itself (MF Encore 225 FYI) so I can listen to the rest of the box and the blu Ray, so I can comment. There’s a Caliban boiling anger emoji for this. Off topic, but suggestions of bulletproof cd/streamers more than welcome.

[mathias broucek]

I look forward to my allinonestreamerbox righting itself (MF Encore 225 FYI) so I can listen to the rest of the box and the blu Ray, so I can comment. There’s a Caliban boiling anger emoji for this. Off topic, but suggestions of bulletproof cd/streamers more than welcome.

I don't think the words "bulletproof" and "streamer" belong in the same paragraph....

I love many thing about my Naim Streamers but I wouldn't remotely describe the technology as "bulletproof". Only this morning, one randomly vanished from the Naim app (back now)

[muzzer]

Fair comment. It’s an MF Encore 225. Currently imprisoning one of my Kubelik discs in it’s hard drive, oh the irony. Avoid.

[Bryn]

Fair comment. It’s an MF Encore 225. Currently imprisoning one of my Kubelik discs in it’s hard drive, oh the irony. Avoid.

Sorry, I don't follow. How can a CD be imprisoned in a hard drive? If you mean its trapped inside the unit's CD mechanism, is there not a pin-hole into which to insert an unwound paper clip to free it? Failing that, have you tried an Internet search for advice on how to go about removing the disc?

See, for instance, https://www.google.com/search?client...60.nMmgWnk75WI

[Dave2002]

Is that a CD or a Blu Ray? I just noticed an Amazon reviewer commenting on problems with some Blu-Rays with additional data causing problems with some drives. I think the solution for that was to turn the machine off, unplug, then replug and start over.

See this review of a similar Blu-Ray for Rattle's Pelleas et Melisande - https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/customer...SIN=B01N0RNH4N

[Bryn]

Is that a CD or a Blu Ray? I just noticed an Amazon reviewer commenting on problems with some Blu-Rays with additional data causing problems with some drives. I think the solution for that was to turn the machine off, unplug, then replug and start over.

See this review of a similar Blu-Ray for Rattle's Pelleas et Melisande - https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/customer...SIN=B01N0RNH4N

That Blu-ray disc is well loaded. Not only do you get the high-resolution surround and 2 channel stereo dts-HD files, you also get 20GB of wavs, FLACs, mp3s, texts, etc. to copy across to a computer hard drive for later transfer to a pocket player. I will try the Blu-ray in a number of players and advise of the play and eject situation with each of them, later. I am currently copying all the 'downloads' using an old Acer Aspire 5740, which has an integral Blu-ray drive.

[I have now checked with both the Oppo and a Panasonic player. I played the last chapter (number 40) and when it ended, ejected the disc without problem on both players. The problem seems likely to be with the specific player mentioned by the Amazon reviewer. Perhaps a firmware update on that machine is called for.]

[muzzer]

Thank you. Yes I’m in touch with the manufacturer, and they are no help. I have never encountered such a poorly designed unit, all things considered. If I could track down the former MF owner whose swan song product this was, I would give him a piece of my mind.

[Dave2002]

Sorry to hear about the problems with the MF unit, and also that the suggestions here don't seem to have helped. Pity about this too, as there have been some MF products I really fancied in the past - one of their amps sounded particularly good to me. Was it the Blu-Ray disc which jammed up your unit, or one of the other discs?

[HighlandDougie]

Thank you. Yes I’m in touch with the manufacturer, and they are no help. I have never encountered such a poorly designed unit, all things considered. If I could track down the former MF owner whose swan song product this was, I would give him a piece of my mind.

If you get really stuck, John Sampson (ex-MF, quite some time ago) does repairs/upgrades. He repaired and upgraded my MF KW250S (the all-in-one box of about 10+ years ago), with which I had had numerous problems. Touch wood, since then (that's six years ago), all has been well. He's based in Coulsdon and more details are at:

https://jsaudiorepairs.co.uk/repairs/

[muzzer]

Thank you that’s most helpful.