Janis Ian had a big hit, At Seventeen, when I first came to America. Sometimes, one associates a song with a certain memory, and At Seventeen always reminds me of the Pennsylvania refugee camp (not what you think, not the Ritz Carlton but not bad either, I actually gained weight and grew :-)) we lived in that summer. After that hit, Ian then sort of disappeared from the scene. The next disc, Breaking Silence, is her comeback attempt around 1993. I first heard it at the house of a professional speaker designer (like going car shopping with Chris Harris). It has since become a well known, gold standard demo cd among US audiophiles, for both the great music, and the absolutely stunning sonics.
It is an all out, no holds barred, audiophile recording, from start to end. Rare, expensive, and gold standard equipments were used every step of the way. Famed Telefunken U47 tube mic was used for Ian's voice, then tube mic preamp, then 30 ips Ampex tape. The mastering engineer was Doug Sax (Sheffield). To give the "normal" non-audiophile people on this forum some perspective: In automotive terms, this would be the equivalence of having Mezger and Rohrl tuned my Turbo.
I'll let the quality of the song writing speaks for itself. Sonically, this will be among the most realistic recording you will ever hear. The band will sound like it's in the room with you, Janis's will be whispering in your ears. Details of Ian's voice are astounding & you'll hear every one of her breaths and intonations. Bass is tight and so powerful that before I ran 20 amp dedicated lines to my Krell FPB 600 amp, lights in my house used to flicker with every drum whacks of the last track, Breaking Silence.
Unfortunately the disc is out of print, so you'll have to buy it on ebay or Amazon. There are some new copies that should go for 20-30 (expected price gouging), with used copies going for much less. BTW, used cd's (and books) from Amazon are safe -- just always look for sellers who have sold hundreds or thousand plus items, and with rating of 95% plus. Trust me, this will be the best $5 you will ever spend for audio.
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Regards,
Can
997 Turbo + Bilstein Damptronic "Stage 2" ( Review ) + GIAC ECU Tune ( Fast as a torpedo & reversible to stock - Review ) + Cargraphic Exhaust ( Oh heavenly noise! )