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Coltrane Atlantic mono vinyl

I've now had a chance to listen to every disc (apart from the 45): all of them sound fine, but "Coltrane Legacy" sounds a bit rolled-off and "Giant Steps" slightly muddy (both still enjoyable, though). Heck, it might have just been the wrong temperature for my cart or something. Love the "Avant-Garde"!

The cover reproductions are well done. "Coltrane Legacy" comes in simple brown cover w/o liner, for some reason. The other LPs all have an extra sheet in with the cover and back cover -- no idea why but if you're the type of person who likes to display covers in those wall frames, hey presto, you can have your cake and it eat.

Back of covers says "Printed in the USA" (presumably historical), but the labels on the LPs themselves say "Made (or manufactured?) in Germany" -- judging from the quality probably Optimal or Pallas.
 
Hmmm. You're not saying that Giant Steps sounds muddy in comparison to the HC Stereo copy are you? There may still be time to cancel my order!
 
I've managed to listen to CD quality stream via Tidal, and my first impressions of Giant Steps are very favourable. Bass does not sound particularly woolly, there seems to be more energy in the rhythm section and it's nice to hear Coltrane centre stage in close up; sax tone, expressive qualities and articulation are fantastic. I don't remember these recordings sounding this cohesive or present. I will attempt to compare to Heavyweight Champion but I'm running out of time.
 
Hi Elephantears, I said slightly "muddy" but it could also be described as phasey or hollow. Perhaps it was just my ears that day, I don't know.

I just made a pre-breakfast nerd comparison between my HC "Giant Steps" and the new mono one (just for you :) and the mono holds up really well! It's a tad louder but -- shock, horror -- I didn't level-match. And, as Graham says, it's nice to have Coltrane's sax in the middle instead of the hard left/right panning. I may end up preferring the monos to the HC set.
 
Got mine today. It looks and feels great (very nice covers) and it is a much, much more enjoyable listen than the Rhino CDs I have. The slightly muddy bass I heard on Google play's Giant Steps is gone, and the CD sounds thin in comparison. Wish they'd do something like this for the early Ornette stuff.
 
I was actually too preoccupied with deciding which speakers to keep to properly listen last week, but I did briefly try Giant Steps. My first impression was that it had greater tonal naturalism on the sax than the HC set but that the bass was unnaturally pumped. This was compared to my early pressing too. I will come back to this soon, but it left me wondering if I could still return the set to Amazon. Also, in my haste to order it I didn't realise that it didn't have 'Coltrane's Sound' or 'Coltrane Jazz', which are really the two Atlantic albums I'm most keen to have better pressings of. It's always annoyed me that the beautiful 'Equinox' has such a recessed sound to the saxophone and I think a really good mono cut could rectify that. I think this was probably a mistake for me, as I already have a decent early copies of GS and I'd prefer to listen to Ole in Stereo.
 
Do give Ole a listen, it sounds great to me, not that I have another copy to compare it to.

One thing that might be a dealbreaker for some is that the sleeves are unusually thin at the top and bottom, although the spine is not. It's a struggle to get the records back into them, and you can see the bulge: they won't take long to develop ring-wear, I'd imagine.

No regrets for me though: I'd never really found this era very engaging, but I'm now enjoying these records as much as the later Impulse! stuff.
 
Finally starting to give this boxed set a proper listen. Some brief expressions which I'll expand later.

Giant Steps; as I said above, the bass is pumped up, and quite indistinct compared to my early stereo pressing. It's very disappointing because this could be really good. The mono does have a coherence and organic unity, and tonally the sax sounds vivid, although it doesn't have the bite of my early pressing (nor does the HC version).

The Avant-Garde; this sounds fantastic to me; Coltrane sounds really vivid and dynamic. My problem comes with Don Cherry. To me, the trumpet can sound as if it is on the verge of clipping; it's very up front. Is this compression? Not sure what's happening here and I need to compare with the HC stereo version.

My feeling is that this whole box might be a missed opportunity to provide something special, but I'll carry on listening.
 
I have a nasty feeling the only way to really get to hear this stuff is US Atlantic first pressings and maybe early Japanese pressings. The post-fire stuff is acceptable as the greatness of the music is still present and correct, but there is no escaping a few unwanted generations of tape are in the way. Given the choice I'd have a full set of US stereo originals.
 
Elephantears said:
My problem comes with Don Cherry. To me, the trumpet can sound as if it is on the verge of clipping; it's very up front. Is this compression? Not sure what's happening here and I need to compare with the HC stereo version.

My feeling is that this whole box might be a missed opportunity to provide something special, but I'll carry on listening.
Click to expand...

I found this too, and not just on this disc. Thought it was mis-tracking.
 
Listening to Bags and Trane now. I find the Coltrane is sitting slightly back in the soundstage; it's an odd effect. Hank Jones is more forward, and sounds good, Milt Jackson lacks the sparkle I remember from HC box, but I need to go back and verify. The bass is slightly puddingy on some tracks. Can't really get over this recessed horn sound. Coltrane does have this clarity and space around him, but the placement is just a bit peculiar.
 
Now 'Coltrane Legacy'. Just did a quick switcheroo between the Mono set and the Heaveyweight Champion, comparing '26-2. They couldn't be more different. Again, pudding bass on Mono, whilst the stereo cut is nimble but rather bass light. Stereo has much greater clarity on the drums and Coltrane sounds a bit cleaner and brighter. It's a shame the mono mastering isn't as good as the stereo, because the latter is far too weighted to the left channel and yet again, the mono mix, if it were mastered well, would have more coherence.
 
Elephantears said:
Yes, I wondered if it was my cartridge, but I guess not. What a shame when Coltrane sounds so good and somehow mono really works on this album.
Click to expand...

Real shame. "The Blessing" is really not listenable on mine. Makes it difficult to recommend the box. I wonder is the distortion on the master itself (I.e. this specific for vinyl master - it isn't on the digital version) or if it's somehow cut in such a way as to force an actual mistrack.

Legacy is the other one that I've noticed this on.
 
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