Aja

[Gsal]

 I 'll try and keep this brief for those who are as tired of hearing about Steely Dan as I.

I've been a fan since day one but have pretty much lost interest in recent years. Frankly I never found the sound of my original LP to be all that great despite the wonderful song writing. Congested, compressed, no low end, no punch.  Listened to the new High Res offering on Qobuz and thought it was an improvement but after a while it no longer satisfied. Then my copy of the new UHQR release arrived yesterday and I thought, oh well, let's give it a listen.

Well, I must say it is absolutely amazing. From the first ten seconds in I knew I was witnessing something special. This LP will show you what a Vandersteen speaker is really capable of. 

'Nuff said.

[GdnrBob]

Funny, but I always thought Fagan and Becker did a nice job mastering their music.-Certainly much better than what was being produced at the time.

IMHO

B

[Gsal]

Yeah, I did too until I purchased my Vandersteens. Then I guess I  heard what was really going on. Couldn't understand why I did not feel the same as others or how I used to hold it in such high regard. I listen to a lot of Blue Note jazz re-issues now and I guess I'm just accustomed to that Rudy Van Gelder room ambiance thing that's usually missing from most other recordings. I thought that Steely Dan did a good job but it always sounded to me like a bunch of stitched together isolated tracks. It never formed a cohesive whole. As I said, however, this UHQR takes it to a whole other level. I guess they did do a pretty nice job with their music. 🙂

[Zarf]

I will have to pick up this LP.

On the other hand, a story from the 70s. My high school buddy visited me in Maine last month. He reminded me of the time we each spent our first real summer earnings on hifi gear.  We'd gone into a Sam Goody in New Jersey, interested in putting together systems.

"Do you mind if we play some Steely Dan?" they said.

It was the de facto demo music for almost any gear in the store. And not just this particular Sam Goody. I have always felt that it was some of the best recorded stuff available at the time, but hey.

[TomicTime]

here are my thoughts…..

 

Aja left a long deep scar

 

33.33333 rpm scar.

So did Dire Straits- Love over Gold so full of pyrotechnics, rain and thunder

Dark Side of the Moon was worse, an amputation maybe... cutting away at my love for Meddle, Animals and more...

All of these and more were Audiophile darlings worn thin in the Eighties...

We had at the peak eight showrooms of gear. Vinyl was king and the lifeblood of the store and  we shared our customer’s addiction.

Of course we tried to stock fresh demo copies but they ended life worn out like a rust belt Ford Pinto. Washed and prayed over with a VPI record cleaning machine  deemed “ witch doctor “

For it’s renowned ability to raise some of the dead

• but not all.

So I tired of Peg, Deacon Blues and yes even Telegraph Road. Some thirty five years on they creep back slowly into my playlist, even LP ownership. And they make me smile....

[Gsal]

Very well put. I think you have expressed my experience as well. This new release has recaptured the excitement of long ago.

[GdnrBob]

Nothing worse than playing a song to death.

I remember being on the beach in Jacksonville and hearing 'Boogie Oogie Oogie' being played non stop on the radio. Literally! One kid kept switching the dial on the radio and could find it playing on another station when it finished on the first station. He did it for something like a half an hour.

Same thing with the Beatles.

Only now can I play it again.

B

[ctsooner]

I’m 100 with Jim on that.  All of the same songs too, lol.  Thanks for the memories Jim. 😉. 

[Steve Edwards]

I agree with Gsal.  My copy got its first spin yesterday afternoon.  Like many others, I’ve always found Becker / Fagen recordings to be sonically quite good, particularly the later ones.  But, the clarity & definition in the UHQR version of Aja is immediately noticeable.   As the oft used audiophile expression goes, it’s like a thin veil has been lifted.  Oh my though, it is pricey!

Play on

[Mike Goetz]

On 11/1/2023 at 6:55 AM, Gsal said:

Well, I must say it is absolutely amazing. From the first ten seconds in I knew I was witnessing something special. This LP will show you what a Vandersteen speaker is really capable of. 

Exactly! Stunned, flabbergasted and finally entranced and then the Vandersteens disappeared and all that was left was the music. A really remarkable achievement and recording!!

[DividedSky]

I'm late to the party here but, like others, loved the new UHQR Aja.  It tops my AB 1006 first pressing soundly enough that I didn't feel compelled to do much back to back comparison. Interested in how Gaucho UHQR is, though it seems to be delayed.  Pretzel Logic UHQR kind of got panned (I liked it), and I think it made Chad Kassem a little leary of anything short of "amazing".  Supposedly Gaucho test pressing was given initial approval then after the Pretzel Logic blowback, sent back to Bernie Grundman for him to try to improve upon.