Chandos Digital
Chandos used to be a favorite label of mine, with plenty of very good recordings. With the VOL Altecs I can hear much more into the recordings, and what I hear now - I do not like it at all. Just listened to 6 Chandos Digital recordings in a stretch. (And a couple more over the past couple days.) In general, the Chandos digital LP recordings sound just like a CD. A good CD at that. It really sounds as if I was listening to a CD and not to a record. Until now, with less resolved speakers I could not tell why I get / got that feel, but today I could poinpoint it well with the VOL. So, the characteristics of the Chandos Digital sound:
Sounds just like a CD: no apparent noise floor.
However, the recordings lack the fine inner details: not just the noise is missing, but fine details as well. There is no super-low level information.
Hall acoustic information is missing - no low level info....
DMM versions: sounds like a SACD... more dynamic, but still no fine details.
Transients are missing, just like listening to an amp with high feedback. Turns your tube amp solid state!
Curiously, even at lowish/medium listening level, listening to 4 Chandos Digital at a stretch tired my ears out completely: they hurt and ring!! WTF.... there must be a very high frequency loud noise, ears are still ringing at 16kHz (and I'm 2hrs after the session already!)
Chandos Analogue
Well balanced, with finer details, acoustic queues. Relaxed and natural, versus the shiny strain of the digitals. Midrange does not have that forced emphasis that the digitals have.
Natural sound, no artificial highlights on aspects of sound
Well balanced tonality
Natural 3D imaging
Never feels forced
Very low noise floor, lots of natural details
Very good transients, no forced HF to cheat / fake it
constant quality throughout all their recordings
Chesky Records
They have a very sculpted sound, probably fine tuned to gear that has very different voicing than any of my setups. The noise floor usually does not exist, and as a consequence, the super fine details are missing, even on their DMM.
ARCHIVE
Their baroque recordings: most often very good interpreters, performances. EQ is most likely not the standard RIAA, but much older ones. Many have cut below about 200Hz, the drop being very steep below 100Hz. That is, hardly anything below 100Hz, sounds very thin and light. However, the 200Hz+ region is nice and well done. ARC-3059 is a good example for this extreme LF cut.
DECCA eclipse series
These are mono reprocessed electronically into stereo. The EQ is fokked up. EQ1 with missing top end extension. Violins are quite bad sounding, and the recording sounds as if it's broken somewhere in the recording process. The stereo effect is quite good, there is very nice lateral separation but honestly monos have much better image - the image is lost by this process. Get the mono originals, forget about eclipse. Unless that's your only copy. (ECS-523 Mozart recording used for analysis.)