Herbert Blomstedt, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig. Bruckner: The Complete Symphonies

[Turangalîla]

I have just bought this Bruckner set from a charity shop for £30, brand new and still in its shrink wrap – a bargain as the set is listed on Amazon for £231.

I have listened to and enjoyed No 5 – initial impressions are favourable, a good live recoding and a powerful finale.

Any Bruckner specialists with an opinion on this set? Perhaps it is good enough to be the catalyst to finally get me to acquire on old PS3 to extract the SACD layer?

[jayne lee wilson]

That is a very lucky find!
Richard Osborne had high praise for it in Gramophone 11/2013, with some reservations about the later works, but no Bruckner intégrale is without imperfections....
I only bought the first three, but they're among my very favourite Bruckner recordings, especially given that 2 and 3 are played in their longer original versions (discussed at length on the Bruckner 3rd Composers/BaL threads), and recorded so beautifully too.

But this was off of the CD layer as I'm not a fan of SACD (preferring hi-res downloads) and don't have playback.
Still, if you want it, why not remortgage and try one of these.....


My most recent Bruckner purchase is the excellent Hans Rosbaud/SWR mono remaster boxset.... haven't yet had time to comment on it further though it is deeply rewarding...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07556L2TN/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

(someone best grab that MM bargain before they notice their mistake...?!)

[jayne lee wilson]

Quick on the draw, right? Come on own up, who got it then?

[richardfinegold]

Decent SACD replay can be had for much less. Google “Oppo “

[Beef Oven!]

Quick on the draw, right? Come on own up, who got it then?

I had a look, but it had gone

[Dave2002]

What's the kit in msg 2? Looks nice!

[AmpH]

What's the kit in msg 2? Looks nice!

A rather ' Esoteric ' ( and expensive ) little number I think

[jayne lee wilson]

What's the kit in msg 2? Looks nice!

It's the K-07.. https://andreweverard.com/2013/09/11...dcd-playerdac/. always longed to own, or at least try one of the earlier models, but never caught up with one and now, even pre-loved they're pretty steep, and not often sold on anyway.... I keep scanning the classifieds, but it's more of a fantasy these days...(the "VRDS-NEO" TEAC transport Esoterics use is a later version of the one in my vintage Krell CD so I'm very drawn to them...).....
One of the earlier Esoterics converted the DSD into 24/96 PCM.... so you ended up with something like hi-res or DVD-A..... I might have liked that version of SACD...

Now that's what I call a transport mech....

[Dave2002]

A rather ' Esoteric ' ( and expensive ) little number I think

From jlw's link in the post above

... apparently much-travelled, box containing 14kg and £6500 of high-end SACD/CD player.

Yes - it is called an Esoteric-K07.

OK - yes right now I could afford one - but would I really want one if I could do a lot of other things with that sort of money, such as go on holiday in 2018 or 2019.

[richardfinegold]

From jlw's link in the post above

Yes - it is called an Esoteric-K07.

OK - yes right now I could afford one - but would I really want one if I could do a lot of other things with that sort of money, such as go on holiday in 2018 or 2019.

For any one who is truly interested, Esoteric customer support receives terrible marks —-basically if anything goes wrong you are on your own

[Keraulophone]

These are perfectly adequate for SACD in a mid-fi stereo system (the Oppo adds multi-channel) and you save £5000 for not being so Esoteric.

https://hometheaterreview.com/yamaha-cd-s2100-cdsacd-player-reviewed/

[Cockney Sparrow]

Really, we need a counter-intuitive** service for us buyers. A place where we can pay the reasonable cost of the facility - for true blind testing between CD quality replay, SACD and other Hi Res, from the same source file or disc. (And someone / some random control in another room doing the switching, but a different person actually interacting with the listeners - isn't that along the same lines as academic experiments?).

Or a loan service - car hire style deposit on a credit card, the equipment is loaned for, say a week, an option to set it up for us if needed.... at a reasonable charge (not free of expectation bias but better than nothing). Personally, I'm reluctant to enter a dealer's demonstration facility again - once they start spending time with you, there is an almost subconscious sense of obligation - or I feel the need to hurry up with my judgement if I think its probably a no-go; quite apart from the techniques of a good salesman. (Which would also be the context of a dealer loaning equipment for assessment).

Anybody over, say, 50 has to allow for the possibility their hearing has degraded (sorry, for many of us, it has!). A scenario such as the above would be free of the sense of obligation to a dealer, free of the suggestion/confirmation bias techniques of marketers/magazine reviewers/salesman (**all those efforts over the past ?10 years to sell us new iterations of the same recordings, and the equipment to go with it).

If it comes to spending thousands on equipment, surely it would make sense to hear with one's own ears, as free of influence as possible, whether the difference can actually be heard.

[soileduk]

For any one who is truly interested, Esoteric customer support receives terrible marks —-basically if anything goes wrong you are on your own

I have had nothing but exemplary service concerning my K05.

I also like my Bruckner/Blomstedt SACD set which sounds very good through the Esoteric player.

[richardfinegold]

I have had nothing but exemplary service concerning my K05.

I also like my Bruckner/Blomstedt SACD set which sounds very good through the Esoteric player.

Perhaps it’s better in the U.K. In the States, judging by Audiogon Forums, it’s M.I.A.
And, soileduk, I would ask: Why have you been required to use their customer service? When a component costs that much, imo it should be problem free . My Oppo has been glitch free for three years (although now I primarily use it as a transport only, sending the DSD from SACDs over HDMI to my Bryston DAC or playing downloads via the usb input).
And closer to topic, I can’t find those Blomstedt Bruckner SACDs anywhere. Although I wasn’t in Leipzig, I did look at a few shops when I was in the Rhineland a few months ago, but no luck

[richardfinegold]

Really, we need a counter-intuitive** service for us buyers. A place where we can pay the reasonable cost of the facility - for true blind testing between CD quality replay, SACD and other Hi Res, from the same source file or disc. (And someone / some random control in another room doing the switching, but a different person actually interacting with the listeners - isn't that along the same lines as academic experiments?).

Or a loan service - car hire style deposit on a credit card, the equipment is loaned for, say a week, an option to set it up for us if needed.... at a reasonable charge (not free of expectation bias but better than nothing). Personally, I'm reluctant to enter a dealer's demonstration facility again - once they start spending time with you, there is an almost subconscious sense of obligation - or I feel the need to hurry up with my judgement if I think its probably a no-go; quite apart from the techniques of a good salesman. (Which would also be the context of a dealer loaning equipment for assessment).

Anybody over, say, 50 has to allow for the possibility their hearing has degraded (sorry, for many of us, it has!). A scenario such as the above would be free of the sense of obligation to a dealer, free of the suggestion/confirmation bias techniques of marketers/magazine reviewers/salesman (**all those efforts over the past ?10 years to sell us new iterations of the same recordings, and the equipment to go with it).

If it comes to spending thousands on equipment, surely it would make sense to hear with one's own ears, as free of influence as possible, whether the difference can actually be heard.

You have hit on many of the problems facing the High End Audio Industry. An aging customer base and the frustrations of the sales experience for exactly the reasons that you have outlined.
As a consumer one of the alternatives are Audio Shows, where one pays a fee to attend and the exhibitors are showing their wares to many at a time. This is a less than ideal alternative for a plethora of reasons—the time commitment, the much less than ideal listening conditions, and many more. However it worked for me . There is a large yearly show in Chicago called Axpona. I’ve gone twice. The first time, just to take it in: the second time, I was focused on a task.
Specifically I wanted to see if I could improve the quality of SACD replay in my two channel system, per the post above.
I concentrated on comparing the combination of Oppo/Bryston vs very high end SACD replay (including Esoteric). I had to be a pest in a few rooms, as I had a few excerpts that I wanted to demo. It helped me decide for the Bryston but it was a lot of effort and I don’t wish to repeat the experience any time soon