Greetings friends, I hope you are well!

The Holiday Season in the USA is marching in with full force with Thanksgiving arriving tomorrow - Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Norman Rockwell's "Freedom From Want". Public Domain image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons and the National Archives.

This year I'm cooking a traditional Thanksgiving meal of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes & gravy, maybe a veggie side dish or two, and I ordered a sweet potato pie from a local speciality baker to round out the meal. Other than putting things in the oven, and whipping up a batch of fresh whipped cream, I'm ready to go!

I like to reflect on life this time of year. First, I'm thankful that I'm still alive, have a home to live in, food on the table, access to health care, that I am able to enjoy my hobbies, and enjoy the company of friends & family. That's all good! 

Life always has a way of throwing us curveballs to create a little havoc & heartbreak, but those of us who have only the normal trials & tribulations of everyday life, are doing very well indeed. 

Death on the Pale Horse. Engraving by Gustave Doré (1865). Public Domain, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

I also take time to reflect on our neighbors that don't have a lot to be thankful for right now, due to the Four Horsemen stalking them here on Planet Earth, and destroying their hopes and lives with Conquest, War, Famine, and Death. 

While those horrible aspects of the World are always with us, I do try to help out as I can by donating monthly to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and Care, two organizations who are dedicated to helping the most vulnerable among us in their time of need.

I encourage you too, to consider supporting those two worthy organizations, if you can. Even if you only donate the amount of what a couple cups of coffee would cost a month, it does add up to do a lot of good, and every little bit helps.    

Revox B77 MKII reel-to-reel tape recorder - restored classics from Revox!

Ok, let's move onto something a bit cheerier, like Hi-Fi fun & games. I don't usually mention press releases, as Positive Feedback already has an "Industry News" feed to tell you about all the latest goings on, but the press release that Revox just sent me really caught my eye for a couple of reasons. 

The first thing that caught my eye was Revox's restored "Classic" product line, like the Revox B77 MKII in the photo above.

I love classic Hi-Fi kit. I have vintage Altec loudspeakers in three of my four audio systems, a restored Thorens TD-124 ... and ... well you get it, classic Hi-Fi kit is very cool and satisfying. 

To quote Revox:

"The B77 MKII tape recorder was built from 1980-1998. A true classic and milestone in the audio world, like its predecessor the MKI. The B77 MKII is equipped with a built-in sound motor control (Vari-Speed Control) and revised audio and drive electronics. As a manufacturer, we have been reconditioning our Revox units with original spare parts for decades. You will receive the B77 MKII from us completely overhauled and refurbished. The impressive end result is a product as good as new."

So what you get is a "Classic" Revox B77 MKII R2R that is restored to like-new condition, and it comes with a 2-year factory warranty! The price: $8980.00 USD. 

Restored "Classic" Revox B795 turntable.

Revox also offers a restored "Classic" Revox B795 turntable with everything included you need to play a record: table, tonearm, and phono cartridge, for $2680.00 USD.  

"Classic" Revox B226 CD player restored to as new condition.

One final example, the "Classic" Revox B226 CD player restored to as new condition, with a 2-year warranty, for $2700.00 USD. 

Kudos to Revox, I think their restored "Classic" product line of audio components is a super cool idea. Revox is able to do that because of that legendary "Swiss Watch" quality they build into their products, and a history that goes all the way back to their start-up in 1948 as Studer/Revox in Herisau, Switzerland. There's other Classics too, which you can see on the Revox website. 

Revox StudioMaster M500 integrated amplifier.

But Revox doesn't stop there, they have not only "Classics", but also new cutting-edge components for home audio like the StudioMaster M500 integrated amplifier that includes an FM tuner (!), DAB+, and it can play any source you have, R2R, vinyl, CD, streaming, and more, and send it wirelessly to Revox loudspeakers in one or more rooms. $3950.00 USD. 

So Revox has embraced the idea of offering studio quality master tapes ($480.00 USD) for their R2Rs, vinyl playback, CD playback, cassette playback, FM tuners, and streaming, which pretty much covers all the available audio sources from the highest fidelity ones like master tapes played back on R2Rs, on down to lower fidelity sources. 

"Early Hi-Fi" from Bell Labs.

I mentioned in Crazy About 78s about how Marston Records is coming out with a 2025 release of the Leopold Stokowski and Philadelphia Orchestra's Bell Laboratory Experimental High-Fidelity and Stereo Recordings, 1931–1932 (HERE). 

I came across a sealed copy of "Early Hi-Fi" from Bell Labs, which is a small part of the recordings that Marston will be releasing on CD in 2025, but this album is a vinyl record, and Ward made the disc-to-tape transfers for this recording. Note that Ward says he was able to get even better performance for the transfers he made to digital for the upcoming CD box set. 

These are historic recordings sourced directly from metal stampers, from the electric era of recording in 1931-1932, the 78 era of records.

Leopold Stokowski was conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra, back when he was actively engaged in pursuing higher fidelity technology for recording & playback. 

Of particular note here is the emphasis on experimental stereo recordings, using a newly designed record cutting stylus by Bell Labs, which make these examples the earliest attempt at stereo I am aware of.

Stereo records wouldn't really reach the publics' hands in any volume until circa 1957, during the stereo period of the magnetic era of recording.

Stokowski participated significantly in these experimental recordings. Stokowski actually had a doctorate in audio engineering, in addition to his many other talents, and adjusted the recording balance of the experimental cutting head and recording electronics for the highest-fidelity possible. He did a brilliant job, creating riveting recordings of those performances. 

The record itself was issued by Bell Labs in 1979 as an ode to their past involvement in the history of the recording arts, and pushing the limits of fidelity at the time. These recordings were never released commercially prior to 1979.

The first side of the record are typical monaural recordings from the 78 era, from the same recording sessions, so you have something to compare the stereo recordings to on Side 2. 

I wasn't expecting much on the fidelity side of life from this album, but I was completely blown away by how good the monaural sound quality was, how dramatic the dynamics were, how beautiful the tone was, and so forth.

All of the drama inherent to 78 era recordings was present in spades! 

Granted I was listening to this record through my Duelund-ized Westminster Royal SE loudspeakers, with a full stack of "Level Four" Audio Note (UK) kit, which is bloody brilliant in its own right, but still, I was very impressed what Bell Labs & Dr. Stokowski accomplished with these experimental recordings. 

Then I switched over to Side 2, with a mix of stereo & monaural recordings.

Holy cow! The stereo recordings had a wide soundstage, the equal of any magnetic era stereo recording, lots of recorded detail (I could even hear an occasional cough by members of the orchestra). Great tone, amazing dynamics, not to mention the artful playing of the Philadelphia Orchestra.

I find it rather mind-boggling to think this level of fidelity was available during the electric era of recording, but that it never got to us, as this was never a commercial release, it was an experimental effort only.  Bell Labs did 100s of experimental recordings like this that were never released. I wonder what other recording treasures lie in the Bell Labs vaults?

Now there is a bit of surface noise, but not terribly so, which is one of the only give-aways that this isn't a stereo magnetic era recording. 

Overall, what I'm hearing here is better than many of the better magnetic era stereo recordings that we audiophiles like to crow about. Where it handily hands magnetic tape recordings their ass is in terms of drama, dynamics, displaying the power of the orchestra, and to a lesser extent, in resolution of low-level detail. It's an impressive accomplishment. 

Whatever Bell Labs and Stokowski did here with this experimental recording technology was a major breakthrough that never got to us, but I'm glad I got a chance to hear this record of "secret" recordings done way back when. It's truly something special. 

It does make me wonder what other experimental recording breakthroughs could be possible with the technology we have today, but that is a whole other topic. I mean, we're still listening to almost 70 year old stereo magnetic era tape recordings as the state of the recording arts in Hi-Fi, with all the dated technology and tape issues that implies. Where's that next big advancement in recording at?

I'll tell you what, if you see a copy of this in the wild, buy it without hesitation, it's an important moment in the history of the recording arts, as well as some great musical performances.

I'll be waiting impatiently until I can buy a copy of Ward Marston's new version of these recordings on CD that he'll be releasing in 2025, and then I'll circle back and tell you how the CD versions compare to this LP version. 

I'm still working through Ward Marston's Feodor Chaliapin - The Complete Recordings! box set (more HERE). It's brilliant, and it's a real treat to have all the known recordings of Chaliapin to listen to. 

One last musical treat before I go.

During an impromptu gathering in 1940 Sergei Rachmaninoff demonstrated on the piano how he wanted his new orchestral work, Symphonic Dances, to be performed.

Rachmaninoff never permitted his personal performances to be recorded or broadcast, so these recordings on 10 inch acetate discs are presumed to have been done secretly, without his knowledge. The fidelity of Rachmaninoff playing is rather poor, due to the microphone being secretly positioned relatively far away during the recordings.

While rumored to exist, these recordings were lost, and then rediscovered in the Eugene Ormandy Collection of Test Pressings and Private Recordings at the University of Pennsylvania, in 1986.

Also, other higher-fidelity early recordings of Rachmaninoff from conductors Adrian Boult, Dmitri Mitropoulos, Eugene Ormandy, and Leopold Stokowski are included in this 3 CD box set. Marston Records HERE. 

I am enjoying these immensely, listening to them through the formidable Audio Note (UK) 5.1x CD player. 

As always, thanks for stopping by, and may the tone be with you!

Oh, I almost forgot - Happy Thanksgiving!