God ! I hate this obsession !

[Tony L]

Best of/greatest hits albums are almost always pretty awful as the mastering engineer only really has the option to bring everything down to the quality (compression/eq etc) of the worst, there is no way to make the worst sound like the best. I have always avoided them. If you like it buy the proper albums.

 

[Mr Pig]

Best of/greatest hits albums are almost always pretty awful as the mastering engineer only really has the option to bring everything down to the quality (compression/eq etc) of the worst..

Not just that but they often have to limit the modulation of the grooves in order to squeeze in the high track count. Having said that, some sound ok and CD compilations sound great! :0)

 

[Piksky]

What the hell to do with an amplifier that makes some tracks absolutely sublime and others absolutely sh*t, depending on the quality of the recording ?

I've never ever heard such a transformation in the sound and presentation as when I recently installed a Primare A60 in the chain. It's sublime and absolutely sh*t all at the same time, depending on the recording. I'm not sure I can live with it. But then, I'm not sure I can live without it. (That's HiFi hyperbole.)

(Primare BD32 disc player; Gyrodec and Primare R30 phono stage; Primare Pre32 with MM30 card; Primare A60 power amp; EWA LS25 speaker cable; ESL63s)

Really interested to read this. I've recently added a Primare A30.2 to my setup and for the very first time am noticing very distinct differences in my favourite recordings: they all sound so different from each other now, and a whole host of new discoveries on old favourites are being made along the way. I'm quite enjoying it, if I'm honest, but I do want to revert back to a point where the nastier sounding recordings become fun to listen to again. When it's a great album it's never sounded as good as it does through this amp, and that's the killer: it's just too mindblowingly good when fed the right stuff. So I'm in the exact same boat as you!

 

[eisenach]

Really interested to read this. I've recently added a Primare A30.2 to my setup and for the very first time am noticing very distinct differences in my favourite recordings: they all sound so different from each other now, and a whole host of new discoveries on old favourites are being made along the way. I'm quite enjoying it, if I'm honest, but I do want to revert back to a point where the nastier sounding recordings become fun to listen to again. When it's a great album it's never sounded as good as it does through this amp, and that's the killer: it's just too mindblowingly good when fed the right stuff. So I'm in the exact same boat as you!

When I first got the A30.2, I was experiencing just that. For a few months I'd swap it around with the Quad 606II. I thought I'd decided that the Quad was the keeper, just because it was easier to live with and listening was more "predictable" (aka bland ?). After a few months working away, when I came back to the system, there was no contest. The Primare was the keeper.

The A60 does the same trick again. It's a revelation, but I've needed to get used to it. Finding that correct volume setting, though, is still tricky. It's down to the huge dynamic range and the transparency.

Keep going ! I'm delighted with the A60 (on the whole )

 

[Mr Pig]

Maybe you could use one for each channel? ;0)

 

[Subito]

Embrace the American Credo:
If some is good, more is better, and too much is just right.

 

[Piksky]

When I first got the A30.2, I was experiencing just that. For a few months I'd swap it around with the Quad 606II. I thought I'd decided that the Quad was the keeper, just because it was easier to live with and listening was more "predictable" (aka bland ?). After a few months working away, when I came back to the system, there was no contest. The Primare was the keeper.

The A60 does the same trick again. It's a revelation, but I've needed to get used to it. Finding that correct volume setting, though, is still tricky. It's down to the huge dynamic range and the transparency.

Keep going ! I'm delighted with the A60 (on the whole )

Great to hear - thanks. Perseverance shall continue!