Originally posted by Curalach
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Ditto. -
Ditto tooOriginally posted by cloughie View PostDel boy: “Get in, get out, don’t look back. That’s my motto!”Comment
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Not sure whether they do or not. Mostly I think we drive their sales up, but they might not like us much when they screw up with very low prices. They don't normally renege on these, though I have known them to find ways of backing out. The Rubinstein piano set a few months ago was one where the price differential was so out of line that they managed to find an excuse not to deliver.Originally posted by cloughie View PostComment
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Interesting that the new big Toscanini box was available at under £80 direct from Amazon, but now is no longer available from them direct and is £142 from other Amazon merchants. It is however available from Amazon.es and othe continental countrie much cheaper - makes you wonder why they have to make things so complex.Originally posted by Curalach View PostComment
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Is this worth having - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Walkure-Bava...202359&sr=1-61
Zubin Mehta conducts Die Walküre - 3 DVD Audio discs for around £12 from Amazon market place sellers. I know nothing about the performance.
It's more expensive than regular bargain CDs, but sometimes these DVD Audios and/or SACDs offer more.
I was prompted to check this and others by Bryn's posting about the Turangalila DVD Audio from EMI on the BAL thread.
I find that it helps from time to time to scan the Amazon site with key words such as "DVD Audio" and "SACD" and sometimes there are some really good bargains. Obviously most DVD Audio discs can't be played on most CD players, though they can usually be played on DVD players. There are ways of extracting the audio file - I believe - both from the DVD video tracks from the from DVD Audio layer. SACDs are usually hybrid, so will play on CD players as well - though not worth it if you don't have an SACD player.
Others of interest might be - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bart%C3%B3k-...=pd_sim_m_h__4
Usually you have to check out the market place sellers to get the lower prices (and sometimes the Naxos Direct site has these at really low prices).Last edited by Dave2002; 28-05-12, 12:23.Comment
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That isn't necessarily true - no, I'll speak my mind - I think it's hardly ever true. Reissues to SACD have been remastered (usually) and will therefore offer better sound from the CD layer as well (usually). And many new hybrid SACDs have been recorded very well indeed, their CD layer benefiting from this, too.Originally posted by Dave2002 View Post
I do have a spare SACD player which you are welcome to borrow.
PS Most SACDs are priced at the same level as CDs, some perhaps a £1 or two higher when there's dual inventory. Obviously, I don't include hugely expensive Japanese releases, but there again these include non-SACDs (CDs made of magic plastic) as well!Comment
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Yes, PJPJ's experience of SACDs mirrors mine exactly, the remastered CD layers sounding rather better than the equivalent RBCD. And give price parity - in most cases - I'd buy the SACD even if I didn't own an SACD player (which I do).Comment
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Not quite sure what's not true. It is true that SACDs nowadays are usually hybrid, though some early ones only had SACD layers - some CBS/Sony ones for example - including some symphonies conducted by Bruno Walter.Originally posted by PJPJ View Post
It may be the case that some SACDs have a better CD layer than CD only issues. This can depend on quite a few factors. In this case, if the price differential is not much, then it may be worth buying the SACD version. If there is a significant price differential, then I still think for users who only have a CD player, and have no intention of buying or using an SACD player, then there is little point in purchasing the SACD version. Some new issues are hybrid SACD/CD as their manufacturers don't want to have two versions.
In some (many?) cases SACDs do sound better than CDs when played on a good SACD player, and of course some SACD players also provide a surround sound option. However for some 2 channel issues there are people who argue that the sound quality of an SACD player can be equalled or bettered by a very good CD player - it's just a question of buying better quality equipment. CDs can sound very good, though personally I believe that a good SACD does beat them.
Thanks for the offer of the SACD player. I do have one, which also plays DVD-As. Despite that I usually play CDs, and I don't normally buy SACDs unless they are similar in prices to the CD only version.
My views on that may change when and if we get a new listening room up and running, which might happen sometime before Christmas.Comment
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... that it isn't worth buying hybrid SACDs if you don't have an SACD player.Originally posted by Dave2002 View Post
Those people usually do not compare like for like - it is unsurprising to me that a (good) £3000 CD player will outperform a (good) £300 SACD player when playing CDs, or even hybrid SACDs in stereo. Compare equally priced components and the SACD player should sound noticeably better, even in stereo.Originally posted by Dave2002 View Post
Removing the surround sound option is another ploy some use to denigrate SACD reproduction. "I've only got two ears" they will say, and so on and so forth.
You can also find references to DVD-Audio releases which are supposed to sound hugely better via the 24/192 program than the 24/96 program. The writers are invariably not equipped with multi-channel facility and omit to give the information that the 24/96 program has a three channel option as well. So, when you compare the stereo 24/192 to three-channel 24/96 you may find the sound-stage far more realistic, as I did.
Anyway, I've strayed too far from bargains.Comment
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I'll bring it back then!Originally posted by PJPJ View Post
The Borodin's Warner set of the Tchaikovsky Quartets/Souvenir at Sainsbury's for £4.99:
I didn't know that this was currently available. Amazon don't have it.Del boy: “Get in, get out, don’t look back. That’s my motto!”Comment
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Thanks. Duly ordered.Originally posted by Parry1912 View PostI'll bring it back then!
The Borodin's Warner set of the Tchaikovsky Quartets/Souvenir at Sainsbury's for £4.99:
I didn't know that this was currently available. Amazon don't have it.Comment
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Searching for Arrau/Haitink in the Brahms Concertos came across a Decca set labelled Ultimate Brahms in Amazon. For £8 5CDs including not only the above but a Brahms symphony cycle from the VSO/Sawallisch which if not a first choice strikes me as eminently satisfying and Szeryng and Haitink in the string concertos with Starker joining in for the DoubleComment
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