The Super-Duper Cheap Bargains Thread

Started by Mark, November 13, 2007, 02:26:18 PM

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The new erato

Quote from: PerfectWagnerite on November 17, 2009, 06:36:40 AM
I got that set brand new for 60 USD ;D

Not that I have cracked it open yet. That seems to be the problem with these mega sets, I have a bunch of them and none of them I have listened to. Maybe 20 years from now when they are really OOP I can ebay them and sell them for a nifty profit.
In 20 years all mobile phones will come loaded with lossless copies of all classical music - ever - for a few dollars. OK; I exaggerate, but your market will be very small, and prices will be rock bottom. Maybe you will be able to find somebody rich and desperate for physical emdia, but I doubt it. The best reason to buy some of these sets, are that we may be the last generation that wants them and in a few years they will therefore not be available.

Martin Lind

There are a lot of great bargains. The Decca piano masterworksbox is a genuine bargain, the Karajan symphony edition is a great bargain, the Sony baroque masterpieces is a bargain, the Wagner box from Bayreuth is a bargain and the Mjaskovski symphony box with Swetlanov was very cheap. Not to mention Brilliant - there is really a lot. There is also a splendid Mozart box with old recordings of his greatest operas from Membran - Krips, Fricsay, Kleiber and Böhm and glorious singers. Hope all these bargains are still there. The Beethoven string quartetts with Guaneri is a bargain ( Decca or Brilliant).

Bargain is of course not only "cheap" but all these things which I mentioned are of high quality and very recommendable.

Regards
Martin
Regards
Martin

Maciek

Quote from: PerfectWagnerite on November 17, 2009, 06:36:40 AM
I got that set brand new for 60 USD ;D

Well, thanks for letting us know now... ::) ;D

Anyway, assuming you got it from amazon-marketplace: that source is available to a staggering 25 countries of the world. Which means that a vast majority of countries is not included... (One of the reasons why I try to snub amazon whenever I can.) JPC, OTOH, ships (almost?) everywhere. :)

Opus106

#263
Quote from: Maciek on November 17, 2009, 10:49:41 PM
JPC, OTOH, ships (almost?) everywhere. :)

For a ridiculous price if I'm not buying a HUGE amount of CDs. On the other hand, I have never had Amazon ship things to me directly... that would have cost quite a bit, too. But I was once informed via e-mail that JPC does not ship to India. (Yet the still say otherwise on the site.)
Regards,
Navneeth

Maciek

#264
You live in India? Just took a look at their charges for shipping to India. I guess you're right - they are ridiculous. :o OTOH, JPC sends everything by recorded delivery by default (at least in my limited experience) - that may be the reason. Anyway, a whole different topic here (ridiculous shipping charges), one I love to grumble about. So I guess I'll start a new diner thread in a sec. >:D 0:)

[Here it is.]

Opus106

Quote from: Maciek on November 18, 2009, 09:21:14 AM
You live in India?

I guess I must make use of the new location field in my profile. 0:)

Quote
Anyway, a whole different topic here (ridiculous shipping charges), one I love to grumble about. So I guess I'll start a new diner thread in a sec. >:D 0:)

I believe we already have a place for that. :)
Regards,
Navneeth

Maciek


Opus106

Regards,
Navneeth

Antoine Marchand

#268
Apparently this is a bargain for all true pianophile.  :D

Am I wrong or Don has highly praised this version?

Das Wohltemperierte Klavier 1 & 2
4 CDs
Release date: 25.7.2005
Rosalyn Tureck, Klavier
Label: Documents , ADD/m, 1952

EUR 5,99 on JPC

Renfield

Quote from: Antoine Marchand on November 23, 2009, 03:55:43 PM
Apparently this is a bargain for all true pianophile.  :D

Am I wrong or Don has highly praised this version?

Das Wohltemperierte Klavier 1 & 2
4 CDs
Release date: 25.7.2005
Rosalyn Tureck, Klavier
Label: Documents , ADD/m, 1952

EUR 5,99 on JPC

The word in bold alone would have been enough to instantly and decidedly dissuade me, even if I didn't already own the DG version.

'Documents' issues have the worst - repeat, the worst - sound I have ever heard for historical recordings of any age.

And that's including the Beethoven 5th by Nikisch (1913). Don't do this to yourself. :P

The new erato

Quote from: Renfield on November 24, 2009, 04:07:20 AM
The word in bold alone would have been enough to instantly and decidedly dissuade me, even if I didn't already own the DG version.

'Documents' issues have the worst - repeat, the worst - sound I have ever heard for historical recordings of any age.

And that's including the Beethoven 5th by Nikisch (1913). Don't do this to yourself. :P
Depends upon the source of course. The Bach Walcha mono set was fine, the Smetana set includes som really horrible things, like radio broadcasts taped upon what sounds like home recorders from a badly tuned radio set. Cheap, but be very sceptical.

Renfield

Quote from: erato on November 24, 2009, 04:17:02 AM
really horrible things, like radio broadcasts taped upon what sounds like home recorders from a badly tuned radio set.

That's my experience.

George

Quote from: Renfield on November 24, 2009, 04:07:20 AM

'Documents' issues have the worst - repeat, the worst - sound I have ever heard for historical recordings of any age.


My theory is that they pirate other people's transfers and then improve/ruin them with their own remastering.

Renfield

Quote from: George on November 24, 2009, 05:05:58 AM
My theory is that they pirate other people's pirate transfers and then improve/ruin them with their own remastering.

;) >:D

Dancing Divertimentian

Quote from: erato on November 24, 2009, 04:17:02 AM
Depends upon the source of course.

This is very true. A pirate can only be as good as the source they're stealing from. If they're smart enough to leave the original source alone sometimes - sometimes - the sound can be OK. I'm thinking particularly of that brownish-gray Documents box (one of two volumes) devoted to Michelangeli. The SOURCE had good sound to begin with (Aura/Ermitage - pirates in their own right - from Italian Radio) and apparently Documents simply did a straight transfer and everything turned out fine. Not that this is the norm by any stretch. But sometimes - sometimes - you get lucky. 

Though not often. :P
Veit Bach-a baker who found his greatest pleasure in a little cittern which he took with him even into the mill and played while the grinding was going on. In this way he had a chance to have the rhythm drilled into him. And this was the beginning of a musical inclination in his descendants. JS Bach

MN Dave

Quote from: Dancing Divertimentian on November 24, 2009, 10:01:18 AM
This is very true. A pirate can only be as good as the source they're stealing from. If they're smart enough to leave the original source alone sometimes - sometimes - the sound can be OK. I'm thinking particularly of that brownish-gray Documents box (one of two volumes) devoted to Michelangeli. The SOURCE had good sound to begin with (Aura/Ermitage - pirates in their own right - from Italian Radio) and apparently Documents simply did a straight transfer and everything turned out fine. Not that this is the norm by any stretch. But sometimes - sometimes - you get lucky. 

Though not often. :P

Documents is a pirate label?

karlhenning


Dancing Divertimentian

#277
Quote from: MN Dave on November 24, 2009, 10:02:13 AM
Documents is a pirate label?

It's hard to know where to draw the line. The lone Documents box I have (Michelangeli) has apparently licensed their material from Aura, formerly Ermitage. Both Aura and Ermitage are known pirates. So by extension I'd say Documents is a pirate.

Unfortunately sorting out all this mess - as far as pirates - is next to impossible. Many pirates exist simply by exploiting lax copyright laws in one country: Italy (at least last I heard). What the pirates are doing is "wrong", yes, but in the eyes of Italian law nothing is "illegal".

So pirates simply use Italy as their "home base" and distribute from there and have no fear of reprisals. They can get away with it mainly because funds available from, say, the Michelangeli estate, or the Furtwängler estate, or whatever small label is being pirated, simply aren't enough to effectively challenge EVERY pirate release.

And so the pirates thrive.

I've never researched just WHAT laws the pirates exploit or exactly WHY Italy hasn't moved to eradicate these practices but there's no denying it's a business model that somehow works. 
Veit Bach-a baker who found his greatest pleasure in a little cittern which he took with him even into the mill and played while the grinding was going on. In this way he had a chance to have the rhythm drilled into him. And this was the beginning of a musical inclination in his descendants. JS Bach

George

Quote from: Dancing Divertimentian on November 24, 2009, 10:01:18 AM
This is very true. A pirate can only be as good as the source they're stealing from. If they're smart enough to leave the original source alone sometimes - sometimes - the sound can be OK.

I think the reason they remaster the CDs is to disguise the source that they are stealing from.

The new erato

Quote from: George on November 24, 2009, 11:32:14 AM
I think the reason they remaster the CDs is to disguise the source that they are stealing from.
So that means that they are smarter than Hatto's husband?