milkpowder

Those are usually the best seats in the house. I would normally opt for those but if the decent balcony seats are taken, then I'd settle for a good central-middle seat in the stalls.

I always have a hard time deciding whether to sit on the balcony for best sound or up close for the best view of the soloist \ The brass and woodwind section tend to soar right over your head when you're sitting up close.

Three?! Good stuff. I'll have to start saving now.

Supposedly yes.

That's quite an interesting comment you made there. The CD is indeed quieter than the XRCD. (you've been busy stimulating the economy haven't you: New amps, sources and discs ) Trust me, I will

Oh I love Hilary Hahn. Her playing is exquisite and oh-so-natural. She really gives Queen Anne-Sophie Mutter a run for her money. I think I have every single one of her recordings (well most of them anyway) She's 8 years older than me though... so I'm off to a bad start.

Nice pictures. The HE90 clones look very decent. Any more details about them? Was the GES running on stock tubes? What bias voltage was it set at?

840E press release: Sophisticated resistor ladder and relay based attenuator for volume/balance control Does that mean stepped attenuator? (couldn't edit my last post)

I don't have an SACD player at university Otherwise, I would certainly buy more SACD recordings. It might just be me being a skeptic, but I don't think the mastering engineer puts much effort into the CD layer of SACDs. You'd probably be better off getting an exotic XRCD/2/24/K2-HD (or even a normal redbook) than rely on the CD layer of hybrid SACDs. That said, SACDs are much cheaper than the JVC-technology-infused discs.

Interesting. I hope they redesign the damned interface. Their current ones look pretty tacky IMO. EDIT: Was just looking through the catalogue. Seems like they decided to keep the interface Oh well... Four bridged 840W in bi-amp configuration takes the price firmly into the deep end of the mid-fi segment.

Most of the drivers of the Kharma are actively amped already, iirc. One million bucks gets you almost everything you need to get them singing, plus the "room", plus the source, plus the gazillion cables, plus the comfy chair, plus beautiful girls and some bling just to look the part...

Maybe they want to go get some mid-fi action considering the numerous accolades the new Azur range is receiving.

Woah, just got the Jazz at the Pawnshop XRCD as recommended on the other thread. It's much better than the CD version which I'm used to (never heard the SACD, XRCD24 versions). I wonder how K2 HD remaster will sound. Bitrate-wise there's a huge difference between CD and XRCD. I use ALAC and the XRCD rips weigh in at an average of 200kbps more than the CD rips. It's almost as if a veil has been removed. Of all my purchases today which I've listened to, I think the Harmonia Mundi Beethoven recording was the best-buy. The sound quality is great and the performance is no slouch either. I just don't know how they do it. Consistent quality throughout their catalogue.

OK, it probably wasn't him jinp6301, maybe I need to get some recordings then. Any particular ones you like?

As you said, I bet it still sounded great. University choirs/orchestras are very good nowadays.

Nice. I love it. Who was singing? Orchestra?

Joshua Bell playing the Tchaikovsky in Hong Kong. That was back in August though. Haven't really had time to go to concerts during term-time.

I have to say I am not familiar with Schumann's symphonies His piano, violin and chamber music is great though. BTW, does the Atlanta Symphony concertmaster ever go on tour? I seem to remember hearing him in Hong Kong (or not?). He was playing the Beethoven concerto with the Hong Kong Philharmonic. Maybe I confused him with the guy from Baltimore or was it Maryland Argh. I really can't remember.

It's great. Performance-wise, I recommend the Faust-Beethoven for the concerto alone. Personally, I prefer Vengerov or Perlman's version of the 9th sonata. SQ-wise, you'd expect nothing less than spectacular from Harmonia Mundi. My audiophile uncle has hyped up the PentaTone recordings for the past couple of years. Somehow, I've managed not to buy them. My all-time favourite recording of the Brahms Violin Concerto is Mutter w/ NY Phil-Masur (not the Berlin Phil-Karajan) both for recording quality and performance. I've never been a great fan of DG recording quality, but the performances are nonetheless breathtaking. The Mutter-Masur is no exception. Anyway, I finally got my grubby fingers on the Julia Fischer PentaTone recording today. On first listen it's absolutely superb. The quality of the recording is mindblowingly good considering the modest gear I'm currently using. The resolution is more or less on par with the time I played the Mutter-Masur-DG CD through my dad's Esoteric X-03SE or the a certain dealer's X-01 Limited, P-01/D-01, Chord Blu/DAC64. In other words, the amount of detail captured in the PentaTone recording is much greater. If you have a good CDP (or SACDP), I urge you to pick up a copy of this. Performance-wise, I have to say Mutter is still ahead of the game, just... The DG Mendelssohn Violin Concerto was OK. On the cover of the album was a quote from a music critic from the London Observer: "The most exciting British string player since Jacqueline du Pre". That was what really made me buy this CD. In all honestly, I don't think it was anything particularly special. The performance was lively and energetic.Recording quality is pretty good, especially for DG. I haven't been a great fan of DG's recording quality. It varies so much from recording to recording, but it seems like they've got it down to a tee with this 2007 release. The position of the mic can be clearly heard and it does seem a bit strange that they decided to put the listener right in the middle of the orchestra, behind the soloist (very close-mic'ed too)! As a result, I don't think this recording works well for headphones. The HM 50th Ann. box set and FIM K2 HD sampler was ordered online, so I still haven't received them yet. I do have high hopes though, especially the FIM K2 HD sampler. It's meant to be the newest incarnation of CD mastering technology pushed to the very limit.

Indeed. It's one of my favourite violin concertos. I have quite a few recordings of it: Perlman, Bell, Hahn, Kogan, Kennedy, and now Faust. Recording quality-wise, the Harmonia Mundi-Faust recording is probably the best with the Sony-Bell a close 2nd. Perlman, Bell and Kennedy bought their own Strads ("lucky" bastards ). Hahn plays on her own JB Vuillaume and Faust on a loaned Strad. What else was on the programme? I'm guessing some Beethoven Overture to start off the concert and a Brahms Symphony? That would be a good concert, if not on the heavy-weight side.

The K2 HD release of Jazz at the Pawnshop

The Firebird suite is brilliant. I'd recommend the LSO/Dorati-Mercury Living Presence 1959 version for pure explosiveness.

Bought a few today: Brahms Violin Concerto, Double Concerto Julia Fischer, Daniel Muller-Schott (cellist), Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra Amsterdam/Yakov Kreizberg PentaTone Harmonia Mundi 50th Anniversary Box-set Multiple Artists Harmonia Mundi Beethoven Violin Concerto, Kreutzer Sonata Isabelle Faust, Alexander Melnikov (pianist), The Prague Philharmonia/Jiri Belohlavek Harmonia Mundi Mendelssohn Violin Concerto, Octet, 3 Lieder Daniel Hope, Sebastian Knauer (pianist), Coe Soloists (octet), Chamber Orchestra of Europe/Thomas Hengelbrock Deutsche Grammophon "This is K2 HD Sound!" Multiple Artists First Impression Music

Sounds like you enjoyed it She's got quite an impressive resume. Is the Guarneri her's?! I was just listening to Julia Fischer's PentaTone Beethoven recording and it's very good too. Can't beat live though.