AAA 100% Analogue This Speakers Corner LP was Remastered using Pure Analogue Components Only, from the Master Tapes through to the Cutting Head
Speakers Corner/Decca - SXL 6529 - 180 Gram Virgin Vinyl -
AAA 100% Analogue - Limited Edition - SXL 6529 Decca
Pure Analogue Audiophile Mastering - Pressed at Pallas Germany
Speakers Corner 30 Years Pure Analogue This LP is an Entirely Analogue Production
The Absolute Sound Super Disc List TAS Harry Pearson Super LP List
The Absolute Sound 40th Anniversary Best Sounding Music!
Holst: “The Planets” (Suite)
Los Angeles Master Chorale, Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Zubin Mehta
Earth was not created in a day. And the same applies to Gustav Holst’s interplanetary symphony which took him about three years to write. The composer employs a massive orchestra and rich orchestral colouring to portray each planet in his musical psychogram.
Mars, the Bringer of War, rages with mechanical brutality, while Venus brings peace and an acceptance of life. Mercury, the Winged Messenger, darts here and there with quicksilver speed, while powerful and sovereign Jupiter brings jollity and reassurance. Saturn plods by with heavy tread, while Uranus with its contrasting changes in tempo remains enigmatic and extrovert. And because Pluto, the most distant planet had not yet been discovered, it is Neptune, the great unknown, which is lost in time and space in an endless ostinato of female voices.
Zubin Mehta and the Los Angeles Philharmonic present this astronomical journey with precision and exhilaration, leaving neither time nor space for astrological speculation.
As always, the excellent DECCA recording quality guarantees an unimpeded view of this musical galaxy.
April 1971 in The Royce Hall, Los Angeles James Lock and Colin Moorfoot
Production: John Mordler
Zubin Mehta and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra with the Los Angeles Chorale (female section), Roger Wagner, music director. A rather late-model (1971) London release that continually adorns most critical and audiophile "greatest" lists.
Begun in 1914 and debuting in 1919, this piece is considered Gustav Holst's pinnacle work. It's rich and extravagant scoreing pushes the orchestra under Mehta's knowledgeable skill, instilling visions of each planet in the solar system. The recording is clear and transparent, reminiscent of the London/Decca golden recording period.
Musicians:
Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra
Zubin Mehta, conductor
Los Angeles Master Chorale (Female voices of)
Selections:
Gustav Holst (1874-1934)
The Planets - Suite
1. I Mars, the Bringer of War - Allegro
2. II Venus, the Bringer of Peace - Adagio
3. III Mercury, the Winged Messenger - Vivace
4. IV Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity - Allegro giocoso
5. V Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age - Adagio
6. VI Uranus, the Magician - Allegro
7. VII Neptune, the Mystic - Andante
Are your records completely analogue?
Yes! This we guarantee!
As a matter of principle, only analogue masters are used, and the necessary cutting delay is also analogue. All our cutting engineers use only Neumann cutting consoles, and these too are analogue. The only exception is where a recording has been made – either partly or entirely – using digital technology, but we do not have such items in our catalogue at the present time
Are your records cut from the original masters?
In our re-releases it is our aim to faithfully reproduce the original intentions of the musicians and recording engineers which, however, could not be realised at the time due to technical limitations. Faithfulness to the original is our top priority, not the interpretation of the original: there is no such thing as a “Speakers Corner Sound”. Naturally, the best results are obtained when the original master is used. Therefore we always try to locate these and use them for cutting. Should this not be possible, – because the original tape is defective or has disappeared, for example – we do accept a first-generation copy. But this remains an absolute exception for us.
Who cuts the records?
In order to obtain the most faithful reproduction of the original, we have the lacquers cut on the spot, by engineers who, on the whole, have been dealing with such tapes for many years. Some are even cut by the very same engineer who cut the original lacquers of the first release. Over the years the following engineers have been and still are working for us: Tony Hawkins, Willem Makkee, Kevin Gray, Maarten de Boer, Scott Hull, and Ray Staff, to name but a few.
At the beginning of the ‘90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the reissue policy was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC Compact Classics, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and others, including of course Speakers Corner, all maintained a mutual, unwritten code of ethics: we would manufacture records sourced only from analogue tapes.
Vinyl’s newfound popularity has led many other companies to jump on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source from which to master: CDs, LPs, digital files and even MP3s.
Even some who do use an analogue tape source employ a digital delay line, a misguided ’80s and ‘90s digital technology that replaces the analogue preview head originally used to “tell” the cutter head in advance what was about to happen musically, so it could adjust the groove “pitch” (the distance between the grooves) to make room for wide dynamic swings and large low frequency excursions. Over time analogue preview heads became more rare and thus expensive.
So while the low bit rate (less resolution than a 16 bit CD) digital delay line is less expensive and easier to use than an analogue “preview head”, its use, ironically, results in lacquers cut from the low bit rate digital signal instead of from the analogue source!
Speakers Corner wishes to make clear that it produces lacquers using only original master tapes and an entirely analogue cutting system. New metal stampers used to press records are produced from that lacquer. The only exceptions are when existing metal parts are superior to new ones that might be cut, which includes our release of “Elvis is Back”, which was cut by Stan Ricker or several titles from our Philips Classics series, where were cut in the 1990s using original master tapes by Willem Makkee at the Emil Berliner Studios. In those cases we used only the original “mother” to produce new stampers.
In addition, we admit to having one digital recording in our catalogue: Alan Parsons’ “Eye in the Sky”, which was recorded digitally but mixed to analogue tape that we used to cut lacquers.
In closing, we want to insure our loyal customers that, with but a few exceptions as noted, our releases are “AAA”— analogue tape, an all analogue cutting system, and newly cut lacquers.
PALLAS
Audiophile Vinyl - Made in Germany For over 60 years the family business in the third generation of the special personal service and quality "Made by Pallas" is known worldwide. Our custom PVC formulation produces consistently high pressing quality with the lowest surface noise in the industry. Our PVC complies with 2015 European environmental standards and does not contain toxic materials such as Lead, Cadmium or Toluene. Our vinyl is both audiophile and eco-grade!
