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YOU MUST VISIT THE NEW YORK AUDIO SHOW AT THE PARK LANE HOTEL ON CENTRAL PARK SOUTH NOVEMBER 9th, 10th & 11th 2018 for a very special listening session of newly remastered Mercury Living Presence all-analog 45RPM LPs from Analogue Productions/Quality Recording Pressing.

Dvorak Cello Concerto performed by Janos Starker, cello / London Symphony Orchestra / Antal Dorati, conductor; recorded 1962.

Bach Cello Suites 1-6, performed by Janos Starker; recorded 1963.

Presenting these stellar new recordings will be Bob and Wilma Fine’s son Thomas Fine.

Thomas Fine, remastering producer, is the son of the original Mercury Living Presence producer (Wilma Cozart Fine) and recording engineer (C. Robert Fine). Since 2011, he has overseen Mercury Living Presence reissues, working with label owner Decca Classics/Universal Music Group. Tom has remastered or overseen the remastering of 25+ Living Presence titles. He has worked with state of the art digital technology, and now with these LPs he has overseen all-analog remastering. Tom owns an audio transfer and mastering studio in Brewster, NY. He also enjoyed a long career as a professional journalist. He is a Member of the Audio Engineering Society, the Association of Recorded Sound Collections and the Adirondack 46Rs.

For these Analogue Productions reissues of Mercury Living Presence recordings, no effort was spared to produce the finest all-analog remasters possible. The original first-generation 3-track tapes were meticulously restored and cleaned for optimal playback. Tom Fine worked with ace disc cutter Ryan K. Smith at Sterling Sound's wonderful new mastering studio in Nashville, TN. Using Sterling's customized and optimized Ampex ATR-100 tape machine, and completely hand-built mastering console, Tom and Ryan carefully balanced a 3-track to stereo mix, which was then cut directly lacquer using Sterling's Neumann VMS-80 lathe. Because no interim medium was used between the master tape and the lacquer, Ryan cut "without a net," manually adjusting groove pitch to match the music dynamics as the tape played. This "old school" style of cutting, with no preview computer involved, is a dying art that very few currently working disc mastering engineers can do. It was how the original Mercury Living Presence records were cut. As with the original LPs, Ryan and Tom employed no program equalization or dynamics limiting/compression. To capture every nuance and all the dynamics of these legendary recordings, the discs were cut at 45RPM.

Following the disc mastering, the lacquers were sent via overnight delivery to Quality Record Pressing, where Gary Salstrom and his expert technicians plated and pressed them onto premium quality 200g vinyl. Using high resolution scans of Tom Fine's original LP covers, high quality heavy weight jackets were made by Stoughton Printing in California

These LPs will be for sale via Acoustic Sounds (www.acousticsounds.com). Chad Kassem owner of Acoustic Sounds will be there to answer questions.

This listening session will be hosted by Robin Wyatt of Robyatt Audio. 

Playback via restored Quad 57’s and Miyajima Labs phono cartridges.

ROBYATT AUDIO Room 702

Playback Chain:

Butler Audio Monad Amplifiers

Audible Illusions Line Stage and Phono Preamp

Electrostatic Solutions Quad 57’s

Technics SP10R, OMA plinth, Schroeder CB Tonearm

Technics SP10MkIIs, PBN plinth, Sorane ZA12 Tonearm

Miyajima Labs Zero Infinity Mono Cartridge

Miyajima Labs Madake Destiny Cartridge

Wax Rax LP Storage and Equipment Racks

Pneuance Equipment Isolation

Saturday 11/10

11:00 AM Chad Kassem demos original recordings in Stereo and Mono, and then his re-issues

3:00 PM Tom Fine/Chad Kassem talk and demo the new Living Presence LP’s

Sunday 11/11

11:00 AM Tom Fine/Chad Kassem talk and demo the new Living Presence LP’s

3:00 PM Chad Kassem demos original recordings in Stereo and Mono, and then his re-issues