When is it worthwhile to issue a new digital remaster of classical music that was originally recorded on analog tape?

[Robin L]

First, much appreciate Robin L for your comment here. I've read your posts in other threads and find them full of experience and wrote the OP here with some of those in mind. If I remember right (?) you've done recording and audio engineering, hosted a college radio show on classical music, and sold music recordings in various venues such as Tower Records and The Musical Offering Cafe in Berkeley, California, USA and now your local library (well maybe you buy more than you sell) in Olympia, Washington, USA. Maybe you caught a Sleater-Kinney show live while in Berkeley or Olympia, but that's a different genre.

My radio experience was at KPFA in Berkeley, the first listener-sponsored radio station in the USA. When I was there a lot of "Classical" programs were broadcast. When I showed up at the station the music department was run by the avant-garde composer Charles Amirkhanian. I also recorded the Berkeley Symphony (directed by Kent Nagano at the time) for them, later recorded the concerts of the BSO for another, exclusively classical radio station in San Francisco. Managed to do a lot of recording of classical concerts for various organizations in the Bay Area over a period of about 10 years -Woman's Philharmonic (also KPFA), the San Francisco Early Music Society, the "Wet Ink" series of new music concerts, others. The 1990s were the peak years of Classical music recording thanks to cheap and portable recording equipment that was superior to the gear being used before the emergence of digital recording gear. I've got my name on something like 15 CDs, mostly as assistant engineer. Recording Classical music doesn't have to be hard. Recording pop and rock music actually requires more skill, though many classical recordings are engineered with a lot more gear (read: microphones) and complexity than strictly necessary.

Haven't caught any concerts here since I showed up 5 years ago.

Your comment that the companies that own the masters of classic recordings could lose interest in releasing these, especially in physical format makes sense based on some of my recent experience. When in Munich, Germany recently I was surprised to find a music recording retailer built into a department store, called Ludwig Beck. It had a lot of stock considering it's a physical store. There was a sales person there named Andres who would also sell at the National Theater (2 blocks away) when the Bayerische Staatsoper was on. I talked with him a few times and he thought that his store could be the last (big) one dedicated to classical music, saying that New York City was out, London was out. With streaming, I'm not sure how long that Munich store will be able to persist, and Munich is full of concert venues, classical players and listeners.

The Musical Offering was a major-league player among exclusively Classical music outlets and is still in operation, mainly thanks to the cafe that always made more money than the music side of the operation. However, I think the CD side of the operation is currently much reduced in scale.

When I read your comment, a specific recording came to mind, Mozart: La Clemenza di Tito with Krenn, Teresa Berganza, Wiener Staatsopernorchester, and Istvan Kertesz conducting circa 1967. I found the 2 CD set from Decca (Grand Opera series, 1990 CD) at my local used store (books and discs) 4 years ago for $4, and later learned it is among the first recordings of this lesser known opera by Mozart. There are better recordings from pro reviews, but I can't get over what a great performance it is. When I listen to it, I feel like the singers knew they were putting something new and very special into the world, which they were. (Ok that's about as subjective as you can get.) Probably others heard this early recording and realized they needed to do one. As far as I can tell, this really important title is now out-of-print, not to be found in that store in Munich with such knowledgable staff, a major online retailer of physical media, or a major streaming service.

Part of the problem with opera is that the sorts of voices the music calls for are disappearing without the support of funding from government and deep pockets. The recordings of Mozart that appeared in the wake of the HIP movement tend to be smaller in scale and are less interesting than the performances that featured the bigger voices that regularly appeared in the 1960s.

So I agree, the companies are already not reissuing some very significant recordings. If the tape is intact, the Krenn-Berganza-Kertesz Tito could be one to attempt a careful hi res remaster and if successfully improved, have a reissue, but as you wrote the market conditions are difficult.

And recordings by Istvan Kertesz tend to get less attention than they should, in part because there are so few of them.

 

[MaxwellsEq]

Sometimes the remaster doesn't work out well. The last link here (see posts 37 and 58 in particular) is an interesting and unfortunate case in which the 2022-2023 hi res version of Wagner: Ring conducted by Solti (Decca) had greatly reduced dynamic range compared to Decca's three earlier digital releases from 1984, 1997 and 2012

Ah, now this is a completely different direction from your first question (which I answered in post #6).

As I stated, 1st there's digital mastering for preservation and 2nd there's remastering with dither, higher sample rate and bit depth (due to availability of improved ADCs.

This is the 3rd use-case which you didn't ask about in post #1, which is re-releasing content with changed EQ, added compression and (sometimes) added content. NB. not to be confused with remixing from the original multitrack tape (e.g. Steven Wilson).

Why do content owners release EQ-ed and compressed remasters? There are thousands of posts here and on other forums discussing this. I'm not sure we'll unearth anything new. EBU R128 and broadcaster and streamer compliance with it kills off one justification (to sound louder than some other guy's music on radio).

Contrary to engineering sense, compression makes quite a lot of music sound better to many people because finer details are made louder and clearer, especially at lower listening levels or in noisy environments (or at the margin of a radio transmitter!). Listeners also don't have to turn up the quiet bits when listening in average noise-level environments. Genuinely full-scale dynamic range music requires a very quiet room (which most people don't have) and power amplifiers and speakers with very high peak capability (which most people don't have). So the only people disenfranchised by more compressed music are HiFi enthusiasts, and they make up too small a group to affect sales (except, perhaps in classical music).

 

[Nopiano]

There are so many variables here, even with ‘just’ what we loosely call classical music. Some early classical CDs were of course DDD and recently recorded. Many were AAD with very variable results. Some sounded delightful, others a bit screechy - subsequently attributed to random reasons like unequalised Dolby C masters, or brightened for LP transfer but not re-equalised, or maybe just scrawny-sounding like lots of CBS LPs sounded (to me, anyway).

Then came the waves of ADD such as DG Galleria series, and Philips Duos, often with cherished repertoire by revered performers. Meanwhile, new digital recordings by the big labels came thick and fast, until labels like Hyperion and Chandos got better results with some less glitteringly-famous orchestras, which nevertheless gave great pleasure. Who imagined Tchaikovsky or Sibelius from, say Oslo, rather than Vienna or Berlin, or St Petersburg?

Today, I very much doubt any substantial numbers of analog masters survive, thanks to the passage of time (where tapes turn to goo) or warehouse fires destroying countless irreplaceable archives. So we’ve got copies made, early on, for CD releases, or remasterings made around the 1990s of famous recordings from the 1950s onwards, such as DG Originals. Seemingly cost no object projects like Philips’ Great Pianists series saw cooperation between labels, albeit some one time rivals had merged, or sold - like CBS to Sony, or Decca and DG becoming stablemates.

I suppose I must mention Naxos, the disruptor who made so many excellent recordings in orchestra ‘spare time’ or with hitherto unknown but superb artists. All DDD, until they became so big they could afford to beat the likes of EMI at remastering Rachmaninoff live recordings etc. All marvellous stuff.

Although I can’t keep up with all the developments, there are such riches available even if another note was never recorded, we are very fortunate with what’s out there. And I haven’t even mentioned the LPs that now have outlived the masters from which they were cut!

 

[SoundsGood64]

Ah, now this is a completely different direction from your first question (which I answered in post #6).

As I stated, 1st there's digital mastering for preservation and 2nd there's remastering with dither, higher sample rate and bit depth (due to availability of improved ADCs.

This is the 3rd use-case which you didn't ask about in post #1, which is re-releasing content with changed EQ, added compression and (sometimes) added content. NB. not to be confused with remixing from the original multitrack tape (e.g. Steven Wilson).

Why do content owners release EQ-ed and compressed remasters? There are thousands of posts here and on other forums discussing this. I'm not sure we'll unearth anything new. EBU R128 and broadcaster and streamer compliance with it kills off one justification (to sound louder than some other guy's music on radio).

Contrary to engineering sense, compression makes quite a lot of music sound better to many people because finer details are made louder and clearer, especially at lower listening levels or in noisy environments (or at the margin of a radio transmitter!). Listeners also don't have to turn up the quiet bits when listening in average noise-level environments. Genuinely full-scale dynamic range music requires a very quiet room (which most people don't have) and power amplifiers and speakers with very high peak capability (which most people don't have). So the only people disenfranchised by more compressed music are HiFi enthusiasts, and they make up too small a group to affect sales (except, perhaps in classical music).

Similar to your post 6, separating the work here helps with a framework for thinking about the issues. Your comments on compression made me laugh because I read them after the lack of it had some real world impact on my life: I was washing dishes in the kitchen, listening to Strauss (digital remaster from analog tape) there was a part too quiet for me to hear over the cacophony of running water and dish clatter and then in 2 sec this really loud passage showed up, my spouse came running in to ask if we could turn it down which we did. At least I wasn't driving the car...

 

[SoundsGood64]

....Who imagined Tchaikovsky or Sibelius from, say Oslo, rather than Vienna or Berlin, or St Petersburg?

Today, I very much doubt any substantial numbers of analog masters survive, thanks to the passage of time (where tapes turn to goo) or warehouse fires destroying countless irreplaceable archives. So we’ve got copies made, early on, for CD releases, or remasterings made around the 1990s of famous recordings from the 1950s onwards, such as DG Originals. Seemingly cost no object projects like Philips’ Great Pianists series saw cooperation between labels, albeit some one time rivals had merged, or sold - like CBS to Sony, or Decca and DG becoming stablemates.

I suppose I must mention Naxos, the disruptor who made so many excellent recordings in orchestra ‘spare time’ or with hitherto unknown but superb artists. All DDD, until they became so big they could afford to beat the likes of EMI at remastering Rachmaninoff live recordings etc. All marvellous stuff....

The Sibelius Symphonies cycle from Minnesota Orchestra and Osmo Vanska (5 channel, BIS) is incredible and to me is even more enjoyable than Sibelius cycle from Berlin Philharmonic and Simon Rattle (5.1 channel, BP Recordings). Both are very good and multichannel. Two multichannel recordings from Naxos I like are Haydn: The Creation from Andreas Spering, and Dvorak Symphonies 6 & 9 from Baltimore SO and Marin Alsop. (These digital recordings are off OP topic, but just replying!)

 

[Daverz]

And recordings by Istvan Kertesz tend to get less attention than they should, in part because there are so few of them.

The blu-ray reissue (or at least the hi-res downloads I have) of his Dvorak recordings was really beautiful. Hopefuly Australian Eloquence will get around to some Kertesz boxes.

 

[SoundsGood64]

The blu-ray reissue (or at least the hi-res downloads I have) of his Dvorak recordings was really beautiful. Hopefuly Australian Eloquence will get around to some Kertesz boxes.

Yes, I think Daverz could be referring to Dvorak Complete Symphonies, Tone Poems, Overtures, and Requiem, and it's great Decca issued on hi res files and Blu-ray. I have the 1991 CD box set that includes Symphonies 1-9 + 2 overtures. Also from that cycle are two other reissues: Symphony 9 only (CD, Penguin Classics in 1998) and Symphonies 8 and 9 (CD, Decca The Originals in 2006, labeled as 96khz 24 bit remaster). Silly me for ending up with all these. I believe all three of these Symphony 9 reissues are each derived from the same recording in November 1966 at Kingsway Hall in London.

From the waveforms of Symphony 9 I-Adagio, it looks like the 1991 and 1998 are the same remaster (or very similar) whereas the 2006 The Originals reissue seems to be a bit different. If you know about this kind of thing, how would you judge the differences looking at these? The 2006 version on the bottom maxes out, whereas the other 2 do not.

I think this might mean that a small amount of compression was applied to the 2006 The Originals with DR9 value, compared to the 2 earlier ones, with DR12 value (DR values from the DR14 T.meter program run on my machine and provide a quantitation of dynamic range with higher value meaning more dynamic range). It sounds good to me, and it doesn't stay maxed out with a long flat line on the top, so I think this is probably not a problem, but if you know about these things, please comment.

From the DR repository on the internet there is a 2016 hi res release that includes the symphonies and tone poems (maybe the one Daverz has), including Symphony 9 I Adiagio which has DR10 (https://dr.loudness-war.info/album/view/158543), so that could be yet a new and different remaster.

 

[Daverz]

Yes, I think Daverz could be referring to Dvorak Complete Symphonies, Tone Poems, Overtures, and Requiem, and it's great Decca issued on hi res files and Blu-ray. I have the 1991 CD box set that includes Symphonies 1-9 + 2 overtures. Also from that cycle are two other reissues: Symphony 9 only (CD, Penguin Classics in 1998) and Symphonies 8 and 9 (CD, Decca The Originals in 2006, labeled as 96khz 24 bit remaster). Silly me for ending up with all these. I believe all three of these Symphony 9 reissues are each derived from the same recording in November 1966 at Kingsway Hall in London.

From the waveforms of Symphony 9 I-Adagio, it looks like the 1991 and 1998 are the same remaster (or very similar) whereas the 2006 The Originals reissue seems to be a bit different. If you know about this kind of thing, how would you judge the differences looking at these? The 2006 version on the bottom maxes out, whereas the other 2 do not.

I think this might mean that a small amount of compression was applied to the 2006 The Originals with DR9 value, compared to the 2 earlier ones, with DR12 value (DR values from the DR14 T.meter program run on my machine and provide a quantitation of dynamic range with higher value meaning more dynamic range). It sounds good to me, and it doesn't stay maxed out with a long flat line on the top, so I think this is probably not a problem, but if you know about these things, please comment.

From the DR repository on the internet there is a 2016 hi res release that includes the symphonies and tone poems (maybe the one Daverz has), including Symphony 9 I Adiagio which has DR10 (https://dr.loudness-war.info/album/view/158543), so that could be yet a new and different remaster.

View attachment 419769

All of these seem to be available on Qobuz except the Penguin CD:

the hi-rez box:

Open Qobuz

open.qobuz.com

the "Collectors Edtion" box:

Open Qobuz

open.qobuz.com

the 1991 box:

Open Qobuz

open.qobuz.com

and the single Originals issue of 8 & 9:

Open Qobuz

open.qobuz.com

And there's the "London Years" box: https://open.qobuz.com/album/0002894786726

What I can't find is the one-off 1961 Vienna recording of No. 9. That was last in the Kertesz Vienna box. It was also on London Weekend (AAD!), and I have it on a Japanese issue with the Wind Serenade.

 

[Robin L]

The complete Dvorak/Kertesz cycle is also on Tidal as a hi-rez stream - 24/96.

I also got a "Weekend Classics" (early Decca/London budget reissue series) Kertesz recording of the "New World" symphony (Vienna Philharmonic) coupled with "Vlava" from "Ma Vlast" (Israel Philharmonic). Always found the stereo panorama of the Dvorak particularly fine, the sonic equivalent of "Cinerama", with a curved sonic image. As far as I can tell, this recording does not appear at Tidal and is long out of print.

 

[Daverz]

The complete Dvorak/Kertesz cycle is also on Tidal as a hi-rez stream - 24/96.

I also got a "Weekend Classics" (early Decca/London budget reissue series) Kertesz recording of the "New World" symphony (Vienna Philharmonic) coupled with "Vlava" from "Ma Vlast" (Israel Philharmonic). Always found the stereo panorama of the Dvorak particularly fine, the sonic equivalent of "Cinerama", with a curved sonic image. As far as I can tell, this recording does not appear at Tidal and is long out of print.

It was also on Eloquence. Some used CDs still available on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009MP8KPG

And it's still available in Japan:

Symphony No.9, etc : Kertesz / Vienna Philharmonic

Dvorak (1841-1904)

www.hmv.co.jp

 

[Robin L]

Yes, I think Daverz could be referring to Dvorak Complete Symphonies, Tone Poems, Overtures, and Requiem, and it's great Decca issued on hi res files and Blu-ray. I have the 1991 CD box set that includes Symphonies 1-9 + 2 overtures. Also from that cycle are two other reissues: Symphony 9 only (CD, Penguin Classics in 1998) and Symphonies 8 and 9 (CD, Decca The Originals in 2006, labeled as 96khz 24 bit remaster). Silly me for ending up with all these. I believe all three of these Symphony 9 reissues are each derived from the same recording in November 1966 at Kingsway Hall in London.

From the waveforms of Symphony 9 I-Adagio, it looks like the 1991 and 1998 are the same remaster (or very similar) whereas the 2006 The Originals reissue seems to be a bit different. If you know about this kind of thing, how would you judge the differences looking at these? The 2006 version on the bottom maxes out, whereas the other 2 do not.

I think this might mean that a small amount of compression was applied to the 2006 The Originals with DR9 value, compared to the 2 earlier ones, with DR12 value (DR values from the DR14 T.meter program run on my machine and provide a quantitation of dynamic range with higher value meaning more dynamic range). It sounds good to me, and it doesn't stay maxed out with a long flat line on the top, so I think this is probably not a problem, but if you know about these things, please comment.

From the DR repository on the internet there is a 2016 hi res release that includes the symphonies and tone poems (maybe the one Daverz has), including Symphony 9 I Adiagio which has DR10 (https://dr.loudness-war.info/album/view/158543), so that could be yet a new and different remaster.

View attachment 419769

Looks like the 2006 issue was maximized, the other two have a little headroom. Shouldn't be sonically different save that the 2006 version would be a touch louder.

Harping on the same subject, more or less, being able to listen to Tidal streams of these classic recordings has brought up one of the problems of remastering - the Tidal rips of Kubelik's equally great Dvorak symphony cycle on DGG. The Tidal streams of the symphonies cut off the ends of each movement on volume 4 - the finale of symphony 5 and all of symphony 6. I don't know if Tidal intends to fix this.

I'd say the problems with remastering of recordings from the 78 era are greater, where copyright protection isn't retained in Europe. For example, Artur Schnabel's Beethoven recordings for HMV were remastered by Naxos in the early 2000s. EMI claimed copyrights in the United States, but they were available in Europe. They were available in the states for a while, but later on I had to buy the remainder from European sources. Makes little difference - I got them via Ebay and Amazon. But some of these titles are still blocked in the US, though the Naxos titles appear on Tidal. Not to mention some six other vendors offering their own remasters of the Beethoven sonatas. It's a mess.

Meanwhile, Alfred Cortot's famed Chopin recordings, from the same era of recording and also recorded by EMI, are mostly absent from Tidal's playlists. Instead of the six-CD set from EMI, Warner Classics has two CDs worth of this pianist's Chopin represented as a set on Tidal. And the Naxos set of the 1933/34 Etudes has the set out of order.

It appears that the older recordings that really could use remastering - the older the recording, the more modern digital techniques would help with remastering - the less likely the recording would be properly remastered. Although we have the means to restore these performances, the companies holding the rights don't appear to be willing to do so.

 

[SoundsGood64]

I thought a recap would be nice.

Preservation of analog recordings through digital transfer and remastering became possible at large scale in the 1980s. It was noted here that through the 1980s and 1990s we observed improvements in digital processing including remastering with dither, higher sample rate, and bit depth that was manifest in both expertise and equipment. It also became possible to change EQ, add compression, perform noise reduction, or even add content to optimize listening in various contexts. The development of these methods means that despite an early digital transfer and remaster, occasionally it may be worthwhile to do a new digital remaster if the original analog tape remains sufficiently intact. One particular area under the ‘add content’ category--and that I suspect remains an opportunity-- has been remasters and reissues in multichannel, based on quadraphonic and multi-track recordings from the 1970s.

Several of us noted that remasters and reissues would be enjoyed, but recognized often there isn’t enough commercial incentive to make it worthwhile to a catalog owner. One potential remedy for that would be for a government or non-governmental organization to provide a grant to remaster, thereby preserving the recording as the analog tapes deteriorate over time. This would lower the upfront cost and risk to the catalog owner, possibly enabling some profit from a reasonably priced digital reissue to the consumer or streaming service. The ‘reasonably priced’ part would be a stipulation of the grant, recognizing that while these can be commercial products, they are also cultural heritage worth preserving for future generations to experience and understand. And, it was noted that wide distribution of a work is a robust means of preservation. Catastrophes such as fires, floods, and war could wipe out precious master tapes.

It is fortunate to be a listener of classical music in the current era. We're some 65 years after stereo and high quality analog recordings became routinely possible, followed by the digital era in the 1980s, and now with highly accessible streaming, at least in places with internet. In hard times, music can help people survive and cope. In hard or good times, music is part of our heritage, and has the potential to elevate and advance the human condition. I appreciate each of you sharing your knowledge and experience. In science, engineering, and music there can be excellence and then we hear and experience the beauty. Even when some at ASR are seeking something beyond the audible, it's that beauty in engineering on balance with cost that is often sought, and that matters too as an aesthetic.

After considering the posts here together, perhaps one general answer to the OP question is this:

It is worth a reasonable cost or effort to do a digital remaster and/or reissue an analog recording when doing so preserves or advances a technical or musical aesthetic.

 

[EJ3]

I would prefer that they just try to clean out the noise from the original recording but not start remixing the thing. Those recordings were done in the mindset of that time and that documents also on how the musicians thought about the music and recording. I like them close to the vinyl version, but cleaner. I'm not against remixes, but keep also the original mixes and release those digital also and label them right.

It's the same with digital remasters of old pop music of that time. I don't want those to sound modern, they have to sound like original, only with less distortion if possible. Many of the modern remixes sound bad, because they try to make old recordings like modern music, while the original recordings and compositions were not done with that in mind. It mostly sound very artificial and forced. If you want them to sound modern, rerecord with modern methods (in an other version maybe), that can be great like the rework of this ska classic by the original artist (with different musicians although).

100% my thoughts, too.
I seek out the originals or modern copies that have not been "remastered" in a way that do not sound modern, just a digital transfer with a "cleaned up".
If the dynamic range can be made better, not worse, I'm OK with that.

If I wanted modern sound" then that is what I would listen to. I mostly don't.

 

[DMill]

100% my thoughts, too.
I seek out the originals or modern copies that have not been "remastered" in a way that do not sound modern, just "cleaned up".
If the dynamic range can be made better, not worse, I'm OK with that.

If I wanted modern sound" then that is what I would listen to. I mostly don't.

I tend to agree though I can’t speak for classical music like rock or jazz. Unless the artist creating the music is involved, Im not that interested in reinterpretations that don’t involve the creators

 

[EJ3]

I tend to agree though I can’t speak for classical music like rock or jazz. Unless the artist creating the music is involved, Im not that interested in reinterpretations that don’t involve the creators

Unfortunately many of those artists are no longer with us (or simply not available). Clean it up on a digital transfer, do not kill what dynamic range that there is (& perhaps increase the dynamic range, if done in a way that sounds natural).

 

[Robin L]

Update to post #21: The Musical Offering is going out of business:

A warm, wistful ‘Last Supper’ at The Musical Offering Cafe

Partway down Bancroft Way, there is a place called The Musical Offering Cafe, a combination record store, bookstore and restaurant where, until last Wednesday, Berkeley seemed to always have a

www.dailycal.org

 

[SoundsGood64]

Update to post #21: The Musical Offering is going out of business:

Thanks Robin L for posting that here, nice article. 50 years made it an 'institution', really impressive longevity for a cafe across the street from the campus of University of California at Berkeley, and the closing less than 2 months ago was certainly worth covering in The Daily Californian.

Curious to those reading, do you know of retailers specializing in classical music recordings that remain extant in 2025, I mean physical stores selling new media that are still in business (excluding thrift and used-only stores). I mentioned one earlier in this thread that sells CDs, SACD, LPs, and Blu-ray audio (and video discs), and given the global reach of this forum, would be interesting to know what still exists in the world. As was mentioned above here, much of the reissuing of analog recordings on CD occurred more than 10-20 years ago. This helped maintain, in addition to rolling releases of new digital recordings on CD, many small businesses like the Musical Offering, which persisted as long as it did because it had other essentials, food and coffee. Yes, there are still gift shops at venues where classical music is performed, but those tend to just carry the recordings for artists specific to that location--this is not what I'm asking about. The query here is about walk-in stores with a wide variety of classical labels and with knowledgeable staff who can track something down and provide a point of physical community.

 

[Robin L]

Thanks Robin L for posting that here, nice article. 50 years made it an 'institution', really impressive longevity for a cafe across the street from the campus of University of California at Berkeley, and the closing less than 2 months ago was certainly worth covering in The Daily Californian.

Curious to those reading, do you know of retailers specializing in classical music recordings that remain extant in 2025, I mean physical stores selling new media that are still in business (excluding thrift and used-only stores). I mentioned one earlier in this thread that sells CDs, SACD, LPs, and Blu-ray audio (and video discs), and given the global reach of this forum, would be interesting to know what still exists in the world. As was mentioned above here, much of the reissuing of analog recordings on CD occurred more than 10-20 years ago. This helped maintain, in addition to rolling releases of new digital recordings on CD, many small businesses like the Musical Offering, which persisted as long as it did because it had other essentials, food and coffee. Yes, there are still gift shops at venues where classical music is performed, but those tend to just carry the recordings for artists specific to that location--this is not what I'm asking about. The query here is about walk-in stores with a wide variety of classical labels and with knowledgeable staff who can track something down and provide a point of physical community.

I can attest to Amoeba's three locations continuing to sell classical titles, though "back in the day" they had a much more impressive selection, with the upstairs of the Berkeley location being all-classical. When I lived in Fresno, I worked at Borders Books and Music from 2000 to 2007 and the chain fell apart soon after. When I started there, I soon became in charge of the music (CDs) section. However, before too long interest in CDs declined from its 2000 peak and I found myself sorting and shelving all product lines. After that I would buy classical titles from Rasputin's, Amoeba's competitor in Berkeley although this outlet took over the space vacated by Tower Records in Fresno. Though they had a fairly large selection, they were almost entirely used (albiet at very good prices). That location is now called "Mad Monk" and its stock of recordings has declined severely.

The reality is that Classical music lovers have, for the most part, moved on to streaming. That article concerning the end of the Musical Offering didn't touch on how big an influence it was on the early music community internationally during its heyday thanks to Joseph Spencer. Unfortunately, Joseph Spence died in 2001 of a rare blood disorder and his influence was no longer a part of the store's reach into the larger classical music community. One era ended 25 years ago, the other last year.

https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Joseph-Spencer-2847290.php

 

[beagleman]

With Classical, Heck yeah!!

I have some older classical reissues from analog originally, that are just awesome sounding in ALL ways.

Some of the best older classical was done at 15-30 ips with minimal or no circuits to add noise or distortion and to this day sounds fantastic.
I have one older Saint Saens Symphony 3 from I believe the early 60s that is just incredible sound wise!!

 

[JeffS7444]

I used to assume that if sonic detail wasn't captured in the recording process, it was lost forever. But now I'm wondering to what extent that's still true, and whether it might be possible to take say, some of the mono recordings of Arturo Toscanini and the NBC SO, convert them into stereo, even restore missing content.