Gold Disc - WYWH

£100? What label is this on?

I have the "limited edition", Master Sound series SBM edition gold CD on Columbia (CK 53753). Sounds lovely, I think I got it early 90's or so, for $25. Of all the Wish You Were Here CDs I own, this one is probably the best. 'Twas mastered by Doug Sax and James Guthrie.

bhazen you have won a coconut. Thats the version he is talking about. If yours was the Japanese version then it is supposedly a touch cleaner than the US disc. There are some Floyd collectors that would agree with Consciousmess but some find the mastersound too trebly. I know I do so I sold my copy.

The very early 2 track US (printed in Japan) or Japanese disc is commonly called the Holy Grail of WYWH discs. The label shows 5 tracks but when you put it into your cd player it only shows the disc as having 2 tracks. I also think that the back cover doesn't have the Made in the USA barcode but could be wrong.

It usually goes for anywhere between 350 to 700 bucks on eBay and prices for them are getting higher. In fact Floyd 1st print Japanese 35P catalogue discs are currently going through the roof. A friend of mine who scours the Japanese secodnhand shops for discs to sell on eBay tells me that the Floyd discs are now very rare indeed. Where 7 months ago he could find quite a few floating around now they are very scarce.

I personally have never heard a copy of the Holy Grail, however some people I trust who have tell me it is like having Floyd in the room with you. I have an very early US 5 track (made in the US) version which I got from eBay for £7 and I prefer it to the Doug Sax remaster of the mid 90's. IMHO it is smoother but there will be people that disagree.

Link below to a Floyd fan site re cat no's for all their discs worldwide.

http://pinkfloydcd.com/

Jon,

it seems that you have a great copy and a very very good remaster, but gold layer on disc don't have nothing with that. Congrats, I am glad to see you are enjoying it. I'd like too, as I am great Floyds fan.

Best,
Oz

Hi all,

Thanks for the contributions! You're right, ewemon I was talking about the same edition that bhazen was asking of...

The disc was bought by my partner off ebay and so the price paid ended up going just over £100. You see it apparently is illegal for Amazon.com to send discs over to the UK so she had to go about it the Ebay route.

I am a huge Floyd fan and want to encapsulate their sound as purely as I can - hence the gold disc. You are right, the treble is more pronounced but I think the counteracting ability comes about through the system you play it on.

I was taken aback when I first put the disc on as the descending 'bubble' sound at the very beginning of Shine on was more prevalent and spread clearly between both speakers. This doesnt happen on the original copy; when Welcome to the Machine begun the 'machine' had so much more presence... chuddering away in front of me and to the side slightly.

I am confident that the sound quality difference between my two editions will be greater when I upgrade my amp to hopefully a NAP300 (presently NAP200).

And Ozren, thanks for your comment. You are right as my erudite brother informed me, the gold layer is not the reason for the sound improvement. Apparently gold doesnt reflect as well. But I am glad you love Floyd!!

Kind regards,

Jon

Congrats on getting a copy though. I see a large number of them are up on eBay at the moment. That will mean long term prices will shoot.

I have just listened to a standard WYWH disc through my Grado 325i (naha/flat cap). The detail is amazing even compared to my SL2's. Listening to Floyd through good headphones is an absolute pleasure.

What a bloody marvellous album, probably my faviourite.
Gary

Gary, you're not alone, I am listen to them through Grado RS-1 and RA-1 at the moment. Bloody marvelous, yeah, like you said.

quote:

I am confident that the sound quality difference between my two editions will be greater when I upgrade my amp to hopefully a NAP300 (presently NAP200).

Well you might be disappointed. As I've upgraded over the years, I've found that some pressings I thought were superb, ended up sounding thin, bright and lifeless. And vice versa. Don't think "I bet this sounds even better when I get my 300", because it might not. Also don't sell any pressings you think sound bad at the moment, on the upgrade path some of these pressings will end up in another class.

I have a gold version of Dave Brubeck's classic "Time out". A free gift from the nice chaps at Infidelity in Kingston for a mistake on their part.

Very nice it is too.

Jono