Again I purchased before I researched and have subsequently purchased the pre-purchase for Laufrey’s new album, “A Matter of Time”.
After researching what is a Blu Spec CD, it appears to be a waste of money, even though the Blue Spec recording is better it is not discernible. After realising my mistake I went ahead and maybe made a larger one of purchasing the vinyl version as well.
I am open to any personal thoughts on these recent purchases and on Blu Spec CDs and vinyl.
@Gigantor I can’t comment about the CD, but I noticed you have the Celestion SL6i. I had them and loved them until the cat knocked them from their stands. I always wanted 7i. My Celestions replaced original Quads. The Quads were vastly better but domestic harmony won out.
@Jaybar, Dear JB, I still have my Celestions in one form or another. I grew disappointed with them over the last 30 years and had them refurbished by ReCoil in Brisbane, Australia. They now sport kevlar bass drivers and aluminium ribbon tweeters. Are the better, yes, low end is a little more expanded and tighter but the highs are incredible. Not louder though more efficient in discerning what was inaudible once before. Drum timing rimshots way in the background and the subtle cymbal touches effects.
I am sorry about the cat knocking them over. Also the noise padding and gluing sticky stuff was replaced as well. I think at the time the whole process was about $500 AUD each or was it a $1,000 AUD. Whatever it was it was worth it to me and new engineered cross-overs for the new drivers.
At the time and now I can not afford a speaker upgrade into the $10k region and above. My Naim dealer saw my pain and lust for more and he recommend this upgrade process instead of selling me some Utopias.
From what Ive read on the internet and other Forums, the Blu Spec CDs use better materials and manufacturing so are supposed to be technically better than regular CDs however pretty much everybody reports no sound quality improvements over regular CDs (maybe their CD players and the rest of their systems are not resolving enough, but I doubt it), so as you have already probably figured out they are not really worth the extra cost to buy them.
For better sound quality on discs you would have to get SACD, DVD-Audio and Blu-ray discs although there are a very small number of regular DVD discs that also have Hi-Res tracks.
My first decent set of speakers were Celestion SL6S’s that I bought in 1985 when I was living in the UK and I moved them over with me to Perth in 1998, I had the mid/bass cone rubber rings replaced in about 2000 because they perished and I later gave them to my nephew in 2010 when I upgraded them to Dynaudio Audience 72SE’s, they are still sounding great after all these years.
I have Kind of Blue on Sony Blue Spec CD2, stereo and mono, Japanese import and compared to the same title on CD, I can honestly say there is an improvement in SQ, a bit clarity. For my favorite titles, I always try to buy SHM-CD or Blue Spec, it’s worth the premium.
I guess the lack of response to this thread probably indicates that not very many people are buying Blu-spec or SHM discs.
One of my local record shops got about 50 SHM discs about 2 years ago, which is when I first knew about them, so did some research on them before a possible purchase, but chose not to buy any of them.
In about 2 years the shop sold maybe 10 if that, and that shop has now closed down and no other local record shops selling them, so that pretty much sums them up, a really very small niche market for them.
Well no one except those with the worst case of audiophile virus buy music because it sounds superior. They buy album because they like it.
It would be a like going out of your way to buy an album on SACD from an artist you hate but want it because it’s SACD.
Plus the benefit is dubious. And would be zero if ripped properly. The amount of error correction required on a reasonable quality CD during playback is low and zero in many cases. Unless there is an argument to be made for higher manufacturing standards reducing non digital noise within the mech. That seems like a stretch. As does anything that tells you it’s better but not why.
Thank you for your comments. I thought I had found something new and release now that it is old school and not required. I think the plan is to purchase an ND5XS2 one day which will save all my OCD worries about which recording to purchase. We have incurred some extensive vet bills recently and more on the way. I will have to put it to my wife that it will give me some ease of mind to purchase a streamer as she has in the past so most definitely no way.
After I pay off the credit card I will make plans to purchase a NAIM streamer. I thank everyone so much for their comments and they are not wasted.
I will also copy and paste this reply in another topic which I have posted on in the NAIM forum.
As feeling_zen says, there are a small amount of people who will buy higher resolution versions of albums, I’m one of them and collect Hi-Res Blu-ray discs and where available regular DVD discs with Hi-Res tracks and have found that for the vast majotity of cases, they sound better than the regular CD versions of those albums that I also have.
I don’t have a SACD or DVD-Audio player so don’t have any of those discs.
All these Hi-Res discs are niche market items, but I prefer and enjoy the sound quality improvements of the one’s I have and will continue to collect them.
Good luck with your streamer purchase, it will open a whole new world of music for you including access to Hi-Res material.
Also, good luck with the vet, I hope it goes well for you and your pet, it must be stressful for you.
Thank you MoonDrifter, yes we love our pets and the menagerie has finally reduced to two small dogs. My wife and I are in our mid sixties and have agreed with the passing of the French Bulldog in possibly three or more years we will live with one dog as by then we will most likely be home bodies with still a interest in glamping in our caravan whilst we still can.
