Robert January 15, 2021 Collecting, Commentary, Reviews, The Bad & The Ugly, Tips For Better Sounding Records

Tone Poet Series: Audiophiles MUST READ!!!

THIS ARTICLE HAS RECENTLY BEEN UPDATED. YOU CAN READ THE UPDATED VERSION HERE.

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Jeff Osborne says:

January 19, 2021 at 12:37 pm

Just for context: I’m running a Technics SL 1200 MK2 through an Adcom GFP 565 (preamp) to a Parasound HCA 1500A (amp) with Thiel CS 3.5 speakers. First of all, the argument isn’t about whether a “new” pressing sounds better/worse than a “vintage” pressing. The argument is about whether you prefer a recent to an older mastering. The Tone Poet series, like many other legit reissue series (Music Matters, MoFi, etc), uses the OG analog tapes … just like Rudy Van Gelder did when he did his mastering. In other words, RVG and Kevin Gray (Tone Poet engineer) worked with the exact same tape to master the transfer. What appears *objectively* better or worse to you may have more to do with the habits you’ve developed (based on your current collection) than with the actual records themselves. I know this was the case for me:

I own about 10 Blue Note Plastylite releases (all RVG), dozens of RVG Blue Note, Impulse, and Prestige releases. And, around 150 recent (1990s-present) reissues from the original Analog sources. These include Analog Production, MoFi, Music Matters, Blue Note Connoisseur, Blue Note 80/Classic, and Blue Note Tone Poet reissues. I have 21 Tone Poets. I was just texting with another jazz collector friend yesterday about how the Kevin Gray work on the recent Blue Notes (BN 80/Classic and Tone Poet) yields superior sound and listening experience to RVG. I think you should reconsider your (hyperbolic?) claim that these reissues “are invariably a waste of time.” Invariably? For one thing, compare an OG copy of Money Jungle to the Tone Poet reissue, and you’ll have an immediate and automatic refutation of that “invariably.” Kevin Gray saves that record from a bad recording that is just the reality of the original source tape and that the original mastering job didn’t take the time to correct. I don’t have an OG Cornbread to compare the TP version to, but, to my ears and through my system it sounds amazing.

I still love the hard punch of a Van Gelder, especially on those Plastylite pressings, and one could argue (as I’m sure some people do) that a Van Gelder master is more like listening to a group in a club (hence, that ALIVE feeling you point to). But, when people argue this, I think what they’re referring to is a certain kind of rawness and dynamic energy … a punch (which has a lot to do with just being a “loud” pressing). And, I’ve learned since collecting recent (trustworthy) audiophile reissues that achieving this punchiness sometimes means losing richness, depth, nuance. So, while I’m not going to get into the argument about which of these will sound better to YOU and I’m not going to say that recent reissues are OBJECTIVELY better, I will say that you’re giving bad advice to people. My advice would be to compare some records. Not one single 70s or 80s era American pressing of a Blue Note that I’ve heard sounds as good as any of the Tone Poets that I’ve heard. But, people should compare Liberty and U/A RVGs to these new reissues and see what they think. Some will prefer the “vintage,” others will prefer the new ones. (Btw, I just sold my 68 repress (Van Gelder) of A Love Supreme because the new Verve release is so superior to my ears. And, before it sold out anyway, you could get it for under $30 compared to anywhere from $50 (for a somewhat crackly record) to $175 (for a Minty record) for that 68 reissue.

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- Robert says:
  
  January 19, 2021 at 1:58 pm
  
  Thank you SO VERY MUCH for your comments Jeff. I really appreciate you weighing in and providing a valuable counterpoint to my arguments. I”ve no doubt A LOT of others share your view and for those of them who find their way to this article I”m sure they’ll welcome your comments as a safe haven from my take down. There’s a lot to unpack here and I want to give all of your arguments their due, so I’m going to write a new post for that purpose. For now I’ll just say that I agree that there’s a the trade off you between what you refer here as “punchiness” vs. “richness, depth and nuance,” but my experience has been that it’s modern reissues that are “punchy” and it’s the vintage pressings that have the richness, depth and nuance. In any case, stay tuned for more and thanks again!
  
  Reply
Alex Bunardzic says:

January 24, 2021 at 5:36 pm

Thank you for saving me a WHACK of dollars, Robert! Coincidentally, I was kind of circling around the Blue Note Tone Poet series, planning which reissue to buy first, when I saw your Instagram post where you announced your in-depth review of the series. So I decided to hold off until I read your findings. So yeah, a lot of money remains in my pocket as of today.

As you and I discussed on several occasions, it remains to be seen if there is ever going to emerge a reissue that would match a decent original pressing. The closest I came to is the Beatles White Album mono pressing from 2014; unfortunately, I don’t have the original mono pressing (only stereo), so I cannot really compare. But that 2014 reissue sounds sweet to my ears (Sgt. Pepper’s 2014 mono reissue, not so much).

Another one is Herbie Hancock “Crossings” 2019 ASH reissue that you helped me evaluate. It came 80% to 90% close to the original, but still the original beats it hands down.

Most other reissues sound downright terrible. Either lifeless, pale and dull, or hyped up, over compressed.

Let me repeat myself ad nauseum: for the life of me, I don’t understand why such huge discrepancy between the way records were being produced 40 – 50+ years ago and the way they crank them out today? What’s so different? Even when using original master tapes, today’s engineers always somehow manage to botch the job. Weird…

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Bob says:

February 18, 2021 at 6:41 am

i dont want to get flamed but what your describing is how kevin gray cuts his records,,, for most of the people i talk to they either think KG cuts suck the life out of the music or they think he is a genuis,,,, each mastering eng… has a sound they like and if that sound is for you than you will enjoy his work,,, but if its not you will be scratching your head wishing you had your 35 bucks back,,,,

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- Robert says:
  
  February 18, 2021 at 1:59 pm
  
  Thank you Bob! I REALLY appreciate your comment. Clearly I’m in the former camp. More importantly you’re reinforcing my suspicion that ALL of the BNTPS reissues sound the way the two I bought sound.
  
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Eric says:

March 8, 2021 at 4:28 am

I’m sorry, the few articles I’ve seen on this site are just insane. Some of your findings are reasonable. And I admire your attempt to compare records. But you miss out so badly on the apples to apples requirement of comparisons that you embarrass yourself with the conclusions that you draw.

A 1958 Van Gelder recording does not sound much like a 1965 Van Gelder recording. If you were an experienced jazz listener, you might know that.
Until you are, you need to qualify your conclusions in a major way.
Comparing the sound of Cornbread to Something Else is vanishingly close to useless. They weren’t even done in the same studio. Furthermore, Van Gelder tailored the sound to the session, with input from Alfred Lion in the case of Blue Note LPs. Van Gelder didn’t just set his mics in one spot in 1959 (when he moved to Englewood Cliffs, AFTER the 1958 recording of Something Else) and leave them there until 1968. The featured artist would get the best microphones, and other aspects of production would change to meet requirements (like Lion’s desire to have a new Sidewinder as a crossover r&b hit with Lee Morgan). So get back to us when you have heard another version of Cornbread. Until then, the responsible thing would be to put a huge disclaimer on this article about how off base you were for basing a conclusion on a whole series on a completely inappropriate comparison.

Likewise, you compared a mono original of Way Out West to later stereo copies. Everything in that review you attributed to the mono was actually a quality of the mono mix more than the mastering chain. Way Out West does have a way out spread in stereo, and that’s one reason audiophiles like it, but it’s also one reason jazz-heads prefer mono versions–because they could and did cut more bass in mono than stereo, and the wide panning is unnatural even when impressive. In other cases, like Atlantics, it’s just crap. Furthermore, you condemn the 1970s copy on the basis of this mono baseline. In fact, many 1970s Contemporaries are still using the original metalwork from first pressings.

With regard to this and some of your other comparisons, they are of limited or no use without citing mastering marks at least, and preferably full runouts.

Finally, you need to name your system. If for instance, you have speakers that err in the same way as modern remasters, well, that won’t sound too good, and the rougher, louder, more mid-focused originals will sound better. If, on the other hand, you have a neutral system, or one that itself is very tight and light in the bass and exciting in the mids, you might prefer reissues. Declaring one or the other better is just silly if you won’t specify your room and system.

Other than that, keep up the good work. This site could be of value if you were more transparent and less hyperbolic.

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- Robert says:
  
  March 8, 2021 at 5:19 am
  
  No need to apologize Eric! You’re clearly more knowledgeable on the subject of jazz recordings than I am, and I have no problem admitting that. Honestly I wish I had the time and the resources to get early and OG jazz records to make the “apples to apples” comparisons you refer to, but alas, I’m under a good deal of constraints in that regard. Nonetheless, I certainly don’t feel “embarrassed” about letting analog jazz collectors who are serious about good sound know that the BNTP series reissues are a dead end. If you’re disputing that I’d love to hear more on that subject which, I think I made pretty clear was the point of the article.
  
  As far as the Way Out West shootout goes, again I was speaking to the question – which of these records best conveys the material and is the most musical and engaging to listen to? I don’t see how whether the record was mono or stereo really matters in answering that question.
  
  More bass is all well and good but more big flabby bass is not a good thing and the OG Way Out West had plenty of that. If “jazz-heads” prefer that then they will of course dismiss my criticisms and move on. This site is not really oriented for them anyway.
  
  I agree that the system matters A LOT in which records will sound good to a given individual. My system – Merrill Williams table, Triplanar arm, modified Sumiko cart, CJ electronics, Verity Parsifal speakers, Audience & Transparent cables is not necessarily the most neutral, but it’s moving in that direction. More importantly though, it’s a very transparent system and it does quite a good job of showing what’s on the record and what’s not. It’s also good at showing which records are musical and which are not and that forms the basis for the praise and criticism I offer in my recommendations.
  
  I’m not sure discussing my room is practical, but no doubt it needs some work as well. As I’m sure you can appreciate this audiophile is hobby is all about a work in progress and my system and set up are no exception.
  
  If you’d every like to contribute your own thoughts and ideas in an article that draws from your extensive knowledge and isn’t simply a response to mine, I’d welcome the help. You can pick the subject!
  
  Thanks again!
  
  Reply
Eric says:

March 8, 2021 at 11:50 pm

I just want to make sure I’ve got this straight. You have dismissed the entire run of Tone Poets, some of which aren’t even based on Van Gelder recordings, because the TP Cornbread is not to your liking as much as a black b (or white b) Something Else? You might as well say the Tone Poets are a failure because you heard Kevin Gray’s mastering of Aja and you didn’t like it. I don’t see that flying off the handle is useful to anyone.

Tone Poet aims to make the best version of a given Blue Note title, not to create the best sounding records ever. You won’t find anyone recommending Cornbread in any incarnation as a pinnacle of the recording art. Thus you set up a strawman in your article.

What you seem not have processed is that 1965 Van Gelders do not have the sweet luscious sound of his late 1950s recordings. Please listen to a few of these: https://www.jazzdisco.org/blue-note-records/discography-1965-1966/

This is one of the most musically creative times for the label and for jazz so it’s well worth your while. Besides the obvious and wonderful Maiden Voyage, check Basra, All Seeing Eye, Spring, Unity, Mode for Joe, Unit Structures, Symphony for Improvisers, and so many others. You will hear the sound is uniformly harsher, less full, more transistory than it ahd been. This is true even of NY USA pressings of which I have a few, as well as later copies with Van Gelder stampers. You’re blaming the delivery man.

This degradation also occurred at other labels. Compare Kind of Blue and Someday My Prince Will Come with Miles Smiles. Yuck! I like the second quintet better than the first, but I can’t endorse the sound quality.

Anyway, the Tone Poets are often not the equal of first pressings but they often are. Kevin Gray rescued Jackie McLean’s It’s Time, for instance. I haven’t heard it but many say that of Money Jungle (certainly a sonic dog in the UA pressing I have).

Either way, they offer tremendous quality for the price compared to other reissue series. With the earlier Blue Notes that sound better as originals, these days you are looking at $100 for a G+ copy pre Liberty copy, and $40 for VG 70s represses. The Tone Poets are easily a good value compared to those options.

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- Robert says:
  
  March 9, 2021 at 1:46 am
  
  Yes I suppose I am saying that Eric. If it makes you feel any better, I just ordered a vintage copy of Cornbread for less money than I paid for the Tone Poet and will update the article when I have a chance to compare them.
  
  One of my other readers made this comment, which may help clarify my POV:
  
  “…most of the people i talk to they either think KG cuts suck the life out of the music or they think he is a genuius,,,, each mastering eng… has a sound they like and if that sound is for you than you will enjoy his work,,, but if its not you will be scratching your head wishing you had your 35 bucks back,,,,”
  
  I’m clearly in the first camp here. I’ve heard several other K. Gray remasters and my experience is that they all suffer from the same problem – lifelessness. Apparently there are others who agree with me on this but I certainly respect anyone who does not. And to your earlier point, the Tone Poets will sound better than originals on certain systems and for people who have such systems AND don’t plan on making significant upgrades in the future I’d say buy the Tone Poets and enjoy the many great titles available in that series.
  
  This article was never meant to be a referendum on the quality of the music on the BNTPS reissues. I think that’s important to keep in mind. And yes, of course, some jazz records sound better than others just because some recordings are superior to others. If Kevin manages to “rescue” some bad recordings or bad mastering jobs so that the music on those records can be better enjoyed by someone who loves that music, then again I would say to such a person to buy the BNTPS version and enjoy. I am making this recommendation to a VERY SPECIFIC reader.
  
  My goal as an analog audiophile and the one I am promoting on this site is shooting for the stars for sound and seeking nothing short of the best listening experience possible whenever possible and with as many records as possible and I just don’t believe in my heart of hearts that the BNTPS reissues, yes ALL OF THEM, EVEN THOUGH I HAVEN’T HEARD ALL OF THEM, are ever going to take me or anyone as serious about great sound as I am to the place they want to go. That’s just me and since it’s my website I get to say such things and if others don’t want to listen I honestly have no problem at all with that.
  
  And again, I’d love to offer some other types of content that readers like yourself would wholeheartedly endorse so if you ever wanted to contribute something, even and perhaps especially something that contradicts what I’m saying on this site, I’d welcome that with beyond open arms.
  
  Thanks again!
  
  Reply
max says:

September 9, 2021 at 8:08 pm

seems like you are simply a paid proponent of better records. the tp/80/ classic blue notes are fantastic.

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- Robert says:
  
  September 9, 2021 at 8:33 pm
  
  If only I were getting paid Max, then I could afford to buy more records from them!
  
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sam says:

September 10, 2021 at 4:11 am

you mentioned better records, would I be able to get a better sounding cornbread from them for a reasonable amount of money? how do they find so many copies of this record in good enough shape to do a shoot out? i thought that this isn’t an easy record to find. you mentioned them like it is relevant to classic blue note records.

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- Robert says:
  
  September 10, 2021 at 1:03 pm
  
  My mention of Better Records was in reference to finding good sounding records IN GENERAL, not specifically for Cornbread. I don’t know if they’ve ever done any shootouts for Cornbread, but they do them for other Blue Notes and for many jazz titles on other labels with regularity. Not too long ago they were selling The Rumproller, for instance.
  
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will says:

September 11, 2021 at 4:45 am

so as far as reissues go of really hard to find records, are you really telling people not get these all analog reissues and that they should hold out for originals or earlier reissues? where can I get a mint introducing kenny burrell for 30 bucks? why are you saying that people shouldnt get these all analog reissues? I find it disgusting that you would crap on these. I say blue note should keep reissuing everything they can. if you hate these what do you say about other reissues that aren’t AAA.

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- Robert says:
  
  September 11, 2021 at 2:01 pm
  
  I never said I hated them Will, and while I appreciate your feedback it seems that you and just about everyone else reading this article is missing the point of it. For most collectors the BNTPS records will be a great option and perhaps a better option than buying an earlier pressing, especially if condition issues are a major concern. But for the serious analog audiophile who wants to push his or her system forward and experience the full potential of analog, the BNTPS reissues are not the sort of record that will support that. They lack transparency, and transparency is a cornerstone of great analog sound. Sure, buy them and enjoy them. Just don’t take the with you to your audio store to demo your next piece of equipment or you’ll make the mistake I’ve made and that most audiophiles make and buy equipment that doesn’t move the sound of their system in the right direction.
  
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sam says:

September 11, 2021 at 4:50 am

robert. why bring up better records if they don’t have these blue notes available for people to buy? seems irrelevant. so I can buy a doobie bros record for 400 instead of like 10 AAA amazing blue note records? are you honestly saying that is what people should do?

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- Robert says:
  
  September 11, 2021 at 2:09 pm
  
  What I’m saying Sam is this – if you want a decent sounding copy of any of the titles that the BNTPS or any other modern reissue has to offer, then by all means buy them and play them and maybe you’ll enjoy them. Absolutely! But if you want to play jazz records that can reveal the full potential of analog, seek out earlier pressings, clean them right, and then see for yourself what the modern reissues are lacking. And if you want to own demo disks that you can use to make choices about equipment choice or to tweak your turntable and/or your system, then buy just ONE record, or maybe two, from Better Records. Even the records they sell for a hundred bucks will sound WAY better than any modern jazz reissue you can find these days.
  
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fred says:

September 11, 2021 at 4:54 am

this is fake news. these blue note reissues are amazing. every other label should take note.

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sally says:

September 11, 2021 at 4:56 am

get these blue notes while they are still in print. don’t listen to this hogwash of an article.

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- Robert says:
  
  September 11, 2021 at 2:10 pm
  
  With your permission Sally I’d like to follow your lead and use the word “Hogwash” in my next article. I LOVE IT! THANKS!
  
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Jackson says:

January 21, 2022 at 12:21 am

Can’t seem to comment on the updated article. So are your saying I should buy a Better Records copy of exile on main Street With Issues for $700. And not the TP Latin bit that’s coming out next month for $35. Also quick question about better records. They quote some albums recorded digitally as having tubey magic only found on tape, how much can they really know about this stuff if they can be that off on the source of the record?

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- Robert says:
  
  January 21, 2022 at 1:55 am
  
  Hi Jackson,
  I’m not sure which soon to be released Tone Poet you’re referring to, but it doesn’t matter really. Let me suggest this – buy it and then buy a vintage copy of the same record, assuming you can get one and it’s not prohibitively expensive. Then play both and see which one you like best.
  
  Unless an original or earlier reissued version of whichever Blue Note it is is extremely rare and expensive, this should cost you less than even one of the cheaper records from Better Records. When you’ve decided which record sounds better, get back to me and let me know. I’d love to hear about it!
  
  Then you can sell whichever copy you think doesn’t sound as good. Although, if you decide the Tone Poet is better but the vintage copy is a relatively close second, hold onto the vintage copy and redo the shootout every time you make an upgrade to your system and see if you still like the TP better, or at all.
  
  What I’m trying to say with this article is this – As your system gets better, assuming that the changes you’re making are the right ones, the Tone Poets should start sounding worse and the records in your collection that really do sound good will start to sound better than you ever thought a record COULD sound.
  
  As for Better Records and tubey magic, “tubey magic” is a shorthand for a particular sound that great sounding records have in spades. Sure there’s more of it when the original recording was done with tube equipment, but it can be there with any recording that’s done right, even digital recordings.
  
  And if anybody knows their stuff Jackson, it’s Tom Port and the staff at Better Records. They’ve played WAY more records and WAY more different versions of the same record, BY FAR, than ANYONE WHO HAS EVER LIVED OR WILL LIVE! When you do that you learn an AWFUL LOT about what makes a record sound good! If you’ve never heard on of their records, I would strongly encourage you to buy one. And if you don’t like it you can always send it back FOR A FULL REFUND PLUS SHIPPING!
  
  Just keep in mind that if you do buy a record from BR and it turns out you’re not impressed, you may want to hang onto it anyway and use it for demoing equipment. Any equipment that makes one of their records sound better is the RIGHT equipment, and any that makes it sound worse is the WRONG direction to go in with your system. At least that’s been my experience.
  
  I hope this helps!
  
  Thanks!
  
  Reply
John W. says:

April 17, 2022 at 7:47 am

Hi,

Thanks for posting this. I’ve been buying reissues for some time now and my observations are EXACTLY like yours (ie. that they are generally lacking life and they are not on the same level like the originals). Every single time I would read the overwhelming comments online, I would buy a reissue and then I would underwhelmed and every time I would get an original I would immediately feel this is the real thing. I personally think there are 2 reasons behind this: (a) aged master tapes (a bit like an aged cassette that just doesn’t have the life of a new one) and (b) tube amplification used when cutting the originals (vs reissues).

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- Robert says:
  
  April 17, 2022 at 1:35 pm
  
  Thanks for weighing in John! I would add to your comment that we need to consider both the cutting equipment being used today, not to mention the playback equipment mastering engineers are using, when we seek reasons why modern reissues are so often subpar. There are A LOT of great sounding jazz records, original and reissues that were cut in the 70’s and even 80’s with solid state electronics. Fortunately the best of these manages to convey the sound of the tubes used in the earlier recordings and in some cases bring out the best in them.
  
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Darnell says:

August 2, 2022 at 6:49 pm

Honestly, many of you so called aficionados are new comers to the entire jazz scene (were not there when it was created…not just about your age but your like of blind ignorance)). Many of you do not realize that the Jazz musicians cared less about any of your opinions as explained in many of Miles Davis comments and interviews. Many of the true jazz legends were not appreciated when they were alive and now it’s “HIPP” to collect my grand parents era of music. I have many OP’s from my Grand Parents collection that they gave personally to me because it was part of my culture and heritage and they wanted me to hold on to it…plus I play (am musician-PLAY ALL LOWER TREBLE CLEF’S) myself. I promised them I would never turn their collection over to many of you who think you know their music or even “their/our” culture…we were exploited then and are exploited now by many who when the originally made the music were discounted much like what happened with Funk Music, Hip Hop and even Gospel Music. Like our communities have been gentrified you are now gentrifying our only truly American art forms with your snobbish onions about the music and or sound quality. I will “DIE” before I turn over any of my Grand Parents original pressings to any of you “Culture Vultures” because frankly many of you and your ancestors discounted them then and again have many opinions about which frankly many of you have just discovered in the past 25 years. Some things are not for Sale and even though I know this is just an opinion site these brothers were tortured by many of your ancestors when they were alive. Miles Davis made wonderful music but he made it for “His People” and the world just caught on to it and rest assured if he/they were alive he would share my opinion as they are my ancestors and myself and Clifford Brown Jr. who grew up with them know they did not give a “Damb” about what you thought then and what you think NOW! I’m not angry I just speak for them as I heard many of these conversations from them and saw how they were treated by many of your ancestors…they never reaped the rewards for what they produced and for that yes I am “ANGRY”! It is all exploitation of my heritage….Mic Drop!

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Krid says:

November 27, 2022 at 9:22 pm

A lot of angry reactions. If you dont like someone’s view there’s no need to follow the site.
As for me: i love those websites like yours. It gets me more information.
Me, i wonder if i can tell the difference between some versions, but like to read about it. And yes, i like the tone poets, but dont have money for the original, and if my wife hears that i spend more than €100 she will leave me :/)

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- Robert says:
  
  November 28, 2022 at 5:12 am
  
  The point is, you don’t necessarily need to spend a lot more than a Tone Poet would cost you to get significantly better sound. I have little doubt, for instance, that you can get better sound with an OP of Roots & Herbs and it will cost you about the same.
  
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Anil says:

January 12, 2023 at 7:28 pm

A lotta heat being generated here for nothing! Each of u guys are welcome to their own opinion. Mine…. I just picked up a bn tp issue of Chet Baker… PICTURE OF HEATH…. Superb sq but the damn record skips! Tp vinyl quality itself has begun to suck before u get to the sound! I guess Original presses continue to rule.!

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- Sergio says:
  
  January 22, 2023 at 1:56 am
  
  Just order from Amazon and returns are simple. You get a replacement in a day. I’ve heard tone poets and RVG cuts and would say I like them both. But for someone to say they tone poets sound bad probably just don’t like the recording or engineering. And for someone to say that while linking to a website with common records priced at 20 to 50 times market price, well I think we know why that is.
  
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  - Robert says:
    
    January 22, 2023 at 5:23 am
    
    Sergio. Please read the follow up to this article where I clarify my position and I recommend, in no uncertain terms, that readers buy Tone Poets, play them and decide for themselves whether they’re worth the 25 or so bucks they cost. Thanks!
    
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rl1856 says:

January 26, 2023 at 5:25 pm

An original RVG 1st or 2nd pressing has a visceral, “edge of the seat” feeling that is missing in the TP and BN Classic reissues. The RVG has a tighter stereo spread, and is voiced so that the listener feels they are very close to the musicians. The TP and Classic remasters have a more distant perspective. The soundstage is wider, but the added apparent distance between musician and listener significantly reduces the impact of the music. OTOH, the reissues have greater extension at frequency extremes, and reproduce more micro detail than original pressings. We know that RVG used a surprising amount of EQ when mastering his LPs back in the day. So we need to ask ourselves, what do we want ? A better version of what we are familiar with, including EQ compromises, or a more accurate representation of what was actually captured on the master tape in RVG’s studio ? The answers may be mutually exclusive. My system: Linn LP12 ITTOK LVII, SoundSmith Denon 103D, Audio Research SP10MKIII, Luxman MA 88 monoblocks, or Triode TRV 845PSE, or Mac 240, KEF LS50. Resolving enough to easily hear differences in LP quality.

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- Robert says:
  
  May 1, 2023 at 8:02 pm
  
  https://ontherecord.co/2023/04/30/audiophile-advice-dont-be-that-guy/
  
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Greg says:

December 22, 2023 at 8:42 pm

Tone poets are awesome. Maybe a bit different from originals but don’t hesitate to buy. I have heard them all. Buy tps if you are looking for the titles!!! They are tremendous.

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The Broken Record

Tone Poet Series: Audiophiles MUST READ!!!

DON’T MISS A BEAT