Mussorgsky - Ravel / Stravinsky — The Philadelphia Orchestra · Riccardo Muti - Pictures from an Exhibition / The Firebird (Suite, 1919) FLAC

I had the Hi-Q Records pressing of this (original master tapes and edited at Abbey Road), but Arthur Salvatori (www.high-endaudio.com) claimed this Mobile Fedelity release was the best sounding version. Doing a side-by-side comparison of the two confirmed that Mr Salvatori knows what he's talking about. After playing the MoFi version right through and enjoying it, I dropped the needle on the last passage of side two of the Hi-Q version as a comparison. Within seconds I was thinking that something was defiantly wrong with the sound. The MoFi has all the instruments in sharp focus, while the Hi-Q version has them defuse and smeared. A great deal of the inner detail was therefore lost and you finish up with tuneful noise rather than an orchestra full of instruments. The Hi-Q version also appears to have the top end rolled off, so all the hall ambience is missing and is far less dynamic. Given the price this pressing is now selling for (I bought an absolute mint copy for about US$20), this has become an absolute bargain.