On the whole the SQ of ‘Straight Ahead’ is very good, although there’s a slight bit of top end distortion at the end of the title track, and it’s a bit bright in some places.
A couple of minor irritations with my copy: it’s not the flattest of vinyls; the cover spine fold doesn’t fully align with the writing; the pasting of the information onto the back cover isn’t as square as it could be. Nothing that I can’t live with.
I’m no expert here, but one thing that I noticed when handling the vinyl was it has a very flat outer edge (don’t know that’s a technical term, or if my poor description means anything to anyone). I like it.
Th raised lip to the outer edge of some LP records is called a groove guard. Some like it, some don’t. I think the idea was to try to prevent the stylus skipping off the edge when cueing up.
I’m really looking forward to hearing my copy I’ve been away for five weeks and am not looking forward to getting back home or back to work next week but I do have a nice stack of vinyl waiting to ease the pain.
Foals - Life Is Yours (store exclusive deluxe edition).
The Black Keys - Dropout Boogie (store exclusive pink vinyl).
Wings - Venus and Mars (early pressing).
Bobbie Gentry - Touch ‘Em With Love (early pressing).
David Bowie - The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars (50th Abbey Road Half-Speed Master).
The Beatles - The Beatles (Giles Martin Anniversary Edition).
At the recent North West Audio Show, I was delighted to find this nice secondhand copy of Venus And Mars - in mint condition throughout and complete with posters and stickers. This album has a huge place in my heart as a copy was given to me by a next door neighbour when I was around ten or eleven or so. This album became my gateway into exploring the world of McCartney and The Beatles, so I’ll be forever grateful to that thoughtful chap! My well loved copy is way past its best, but this one looks unplayed, and I couldn’t believe how good it sounded after a clean.
And for every good used buy, there’s an equally frustrating polar opposite! This first pressing of Transformer looks absolutely pristine, and despite four passes on the RCM, it has truly awful surface noise, so all I can conclude is that it’s beyond saving, unless ultrasonic cleaning can improve on the vacuum cleaning process. Hey ho, just one of the frustrations of buying vinyl.
Must pick up a Speakers Corner vision when back in stock, and perhaps an 80s RCA International version too.
Thanks Richard, I’ve read good things about this version, although some have commented that it is bass heavy though? I’ll still plunge, as this version I’ve just acquired is in a terrible state. A shame, as it looks barely played.
Both of these records were included as protective ballast for the Bobbie Gentry album! Obviously, not worth worth selling for the vendor - both in as new condition as well. Cleaned and will be added to the ‘occasionally listened to’ section…
