Kronos Quartet In Formation Reference Recordings RR-9 45rpm Audiophile LP NM/NM

$

21

• In Formation.
• Kronos Quartet.
• Reference Recordings 45 RPM "PURE ANALOG" LP
• 45 RPM Play Speed
• Thick Gatefold Jacket.
• Keith O. Johnson Audiophile Recording On His "focus gap" Magnetic Tape Recorder.
• Awarded - “SPECIAL MERIT: Collections” By The Absolute Sound Audiophile Magazine (TAS)

Item Details
Manufactured in: USA
Recorded: January, March 1979 At St. Mary's Cathedral, SF, By Keith O. Johnson
Lacquer Cut By: By Bruce Leek At International Automated Media
Pressing: By KM Records Inc. Burbank CA.
Original Issue: 1982
This Issue: 1982
Label: Reference Recordings RR-20
Runout Deadwax Matrix Numbers:
Side 1: (etch:) RR 9-A1 (symbol) KM-7369-A1 + (stamp:) KM (etch:) +
Side 2: (etch:) RR 9-B1 (symbol) KM-7369-B1 + (stamp:) KM (etch:) +
Twelve inch 45 RPM vinyl has sonic advantages over 33 RPM versions. There is more audio information in the groove per linear distance of stylus travel. If each side is not too long the curvature of the groove never equals or exceeds the diameter of the playback stylus. Therefore, on the innermost grooves there is more high frequency extension and less distortion. 45 RPM mastering also allows a cutting level about 5 dB higher than 33 RPM so this can increase the signal to noise ratio. The higher peak levels means wider dynamic range.
Was bought new by this seller many years ago and now offered from his private collection (you have absolutely known provenance). Has had just a couple of plays only on an expertly setup high-end audiophile turntable, arm, and cartridge. Has never been exposed to heat or tobacco smoke and always stored vertically in a specially designed record cabinet (Rackit) to prevent warpage.
Was cleaned on a VPI HW 16 with Audio Intelligent solutions and ultra-pure water rinse (50X purer than distilled water) before my pre-sale sound check. I wear nitrile surgical gloves while cleaning and play testing to avoid any chance of transferring finger oils to the vinyl.

Very sensitive play testing was performed straight off my Ayre P-5xe fully balanced phono preamp over Sennheiser HD 600 headphones using a Schiit Audio Valhalla 2 tube headphone amp fitted with Voskhod Soviet matched tubes (see last photo).

Track list
1: The Funky Chicken, Remember, Blues, When, Enantiodromia High, .

2: Joan's Blue, Wind On My Back, The Junk Food Blues, Dark Razz, Whatever Happened To The Hoodoo Meat Bucket?.

I never take "distant" photos nor the so-prevalent type with the LP sticking halfway out of the jacket. I take close-ups under photo lamps so you can see nearly everything I describe in the jacket grading. It is virtually impossible to know the true vinyl condition from any photograph. That takes very bright and close visual inspection PLUS play testing with thorough coverage on high resolution equipment.
Grading Details
Note: Record grading by text characters is subjective and does not fully describe quality levels. Please see photos and my detailed descriptions below.

Outer Jacket Inspection:
NM-/VG+
The only noticeable things on the jacket front are a few mild discolorations easily seen in my photo above the "Kronos" text. The gatefold insides are a solid NM. On the jacket rear there's a 2" ring stain that must be from stupidly laying down a soda can on that face a long time ago. That knocks this side into VG territory. Too bad as that face is otherwise perfect. There is some very gentle rounding of the corners from rubbing wear.

Vinyl visual inspection:
Both sides have stickers from applying the LAST record wear prevention treatment that I used to do on almost every new LP before first play. Side 1 was visually perfect. On Side 2 I noticed some reflective cloud-like radial "contrails" passing through Tracks 2-4. It looks like the surface was rubbed lightly against something and it blemished the top surface of the vinyl. The abrasions appear to be well above groove modulations but I made a note to check carefully thru that area during play testing. That was all I found in Side 2.

Play Testing:
NM/NM
The entire album was first digitized to 192k/24-bit WAV files using the sensitive play test path described above and shown in my last photo. I next brought up the files in Pro Tools and went thru the entire album reviewing all tracks, lead-in, lead-out, and transition grooves. This allowed me to recheck sections easily. Continuous written notes were taken. I also listened to my favorite tracks on the monitor speakers. Here is rundown of each side from my notes.

Side 1 Play
Track 1 starts out very quiet and then builds up presenting a remarkably realistic portrait of tone and physical placement of the performers. I could tell in the headphones that this vinyl was capable of 3D imaging so I switched to monitor speakers for a while. When the instruments appear well off to the sides, in front of, or behind speaker enclosures I knew this was a very special recording. The effect was quite remarkable and probably just what Keith Johnson was trying to achieve. I was worried up front that recording in a cathedral would add too much reverberation and mush up the clarity of the instruments. But no, contrarily the direct plus reflected balance was just about perfect to my taste. Each dead quiet transition groove in a row were very indicative of a really good pressing. Ticks that I could hear were very infrequent, high in frequency (very short pulse width as seen in the waveform display) and low in energy. The low entropy vinyl noise floor is important on this LP because there are some very quiet and delicate passages (such as S1:T4 a favorite, and S2:T5) in the music that would be a strain to enjoy on a lesser pressing.

Side 2 Play
Track 1 comes alive with some very crisp percussion that gives one true sense of the hall size while it also localizes the area occupied by the players. this track was a favorite. T2 was another keeper that really placed the instruments outside the plane of the speaker boundaries. This whole side had the same quiet noise floor as the other one and I heard nothing at all that could be contributed to those radial traces I noted in the visual inspection. 

I would not categorize the musical genre as "classical" at all. Its sort of hard to describe each style but its always interesting, played with top-notch artistry, and benefits superbly from remarkable recording and mastering talent.

Packaging

• Record will be placed outside the jacket to protect against seam splitting.
• Original inner sleeve is included separately.
• Record has been placed into a new MFSL-style "rice paper" sleeve, as the original, even though plastic lined, may be holding onto some dust. This will keep vinyl surfaces clean during shipping and ultimate buyer usage.
• Outer jacket is contained in a new clear polyethylene protective sleeve.
• Sent in good quality record mailer with cardboard stiffeners.

Shipping

• Shipping will be via USPS Media Mail for a flat charge of $3.98 per single album sale.
• A combined shipping discount is available on multiple sales completed on the same day($3.98 plus $0.50 for each additional LP).
• If you do buy more than one LP  on the same daydo not pay immediately but wait for my all-combined invoice. A discount for the combined items will show on that invoice. Then, once payment is received, the items will ship.