That's the one I heard, "Winds of War and Peace." Very good playing, but I thought the recording was 
made as a stereo demo rather than a musical recording that one would listen to and love over time. 
It's an audiophile "show off my woofers" favorite, so I think my point is made.

-- Tom Fine

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Michael Fox" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, February 23, 2014 12:55 AM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Computer desktop power speakers recommendation


>I think that the other legendary bass drum LPs that were alluded to below
> were probably the Wilson Audio recordings of the National Symphonic Winds
> conducted by Lowell Graham, "Winds of War and Peace" and "Center Stage."
> They are easily the equal of the Telarcs in sheer impact. But mastered by
> Doug Sax, not Stan Ricker.
>
> Michael Fox
>
> On Sat, Feb 22, 2014 at 9:35 PM, DAVID BURNHAM <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>> I have always held the Tela
>> To Tom, (and anyone else who's interested)
>>
>> I have always held the Telarc Holst Suites in High regard - it's a
>> spectacular recording, not only the bass drum but the entire group sounds
>> beautifully transparent and realistic.  As you say, the bass drum has
>> dynamic impact without taking over the sound completely.  It sounds so
>> realistic that my dog responded in a manner which is usually reserved for
>> thunder storms - I've never seen him do that before with a record.  I
>> couldn't find the Army band record you mentioned; I did pull out the U.S.
>> Marine band recording released in 1963 which describes itself as the first
>> recording made by this band and while it is well recorded for its day, it
>> doesn't have a very realistic sounding bass response at all.  There is all
>> sorts of hype on the cover about Dynagroove and I think they were focussing
>> on brilliance rather than solid bass.  It also has an annoying mono reverb
>> after the last note of each selection.
>> db
>>
>>
>>
>> On Thursday, February 20, 2014 7:06:04 AM, Tom Fine <
>> [log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>
>> I agree that describing sounds is an inexact thing. Say what you will
>> about audiophile writers like
>> >J. Gordon Holt, Harry Pearson and some of the current bunch at
>> Stereophile mag, they have come up
>> >with a language (mainly invented by Holt and enhanced/evolved by Pearson)
>> that describes sounds
>> >heard and the behavior of audio equipment in transmitting sound.
>> >
>> >Regarding bass, "boomy" is a very common term, and what it seems to mean
>> is "too much upper bass
>> >(around the 150-200hz region) for the liking of the person calling it
>> boomy." Bose seems to get this
>> >reaction from a lot of people, both those not used to much bass with
>> their music (due to
>> >tiny-speaker computer listening, or just consuming music via a laptop or
>> tablet, or being accustomed
>> >to TV speakers) and those who want deep bass but hear too much higher
>> bass with the Bose speakers.
>> >
>> >David, what do you think of the bass drum on the Fennell Telarc recording
>> of the Holst Suites?
>> >That's usually a strong "acid test". Also, do you have that album made in
>> Washington DC in the 80s
>> >by, I think, the US Air Force Band? It's famous among audiophiles, in
>> fact I just had it played for
>> >me by one of the better-known LP advocates on a system that costs more
>> than my house and cars
>> >combined. I thought, lots of bass drum but I'm not sure the music calls
>> for that much bass drum. So
>> >is it musical or is it a woofer reality test by design? If I recall
>> correctly, the record was cut by
>> >Stan Ricker, who knows his bass.
>> >
>> >One thing I do hear with modern recordings, especially those using
>> no-transformer recording chains,
>> >is that deep bass is sharper, more precise and more focused if it's
>> recorded well. I assume the
>> >reason is no phase shifts from transformers. Some people really don't
>> like that because it
>> >definitely sounds different. LP fans often lodge a complaint about
>> digital bass that I think points
>> >to a similar situation -- all LP cutters have to sum some portion of
>> strong bass energy to the
>> >center in order to make records trackable. A system with strong bass
>> response and really
>> >quick-reacting speakers in a decent room won't be "bass is
>> non-directional" to careful listeners. So
>> >someone who grew up with an LP and was accustomed to its sound may not
>> have had the double basses as
>> >clearly deliniated to the right, or the electric bass in a Beatles
>> recording actually panned
>> >off-center like it often was in the later years (and in fact if they grew
>> up on the Capitol USA
>> >records, they didn't hear the bass as it sounded on the approved UK
>> masters). In some rooms, bass
>> >that is centered and slightly high-passed, as is the case with many LPs,
>> may work better because it
>> >creates fewer frequency bumps around the sides of the speakers. Something
>> precisely placed and of
>> >the frequencies and balances of the master tape may create a boom around
>> or behind a speaker, or
>> >might sit wrong in the room, or in some other way not sound "right", and
>> the LP fan tends to blame
>> >this on "digital" without looking at the differences in the media and the
>> playback systems.
>> >
>> >-- Tom Fine
>> >
>> >----- Original Message -----
>> >From: "DAVID BURNHAM" <[log in to unmask]>
>> >To: <[log in to unmask]>
>> >Sent: Thursday, February 20, 2014 3:52 AM
>> >Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Computer desktop power speakers recommendation
>> >
>> >
>> >> There is often a problem communicating with listeners who try to
>> describe what they're hearing in
>> >> non-audio subjective terms - warm, cold, dry, wet, tight, wooly,
>> wooden, etc. and terms which are
>> >> more appropriate like boomy, resonant, sizzly, thin, etc.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> When I use the term "boomy", it usually means a strong bass of a
>> specific frequency - like the
>> >> sound you hear when a car pulls up beside you with strong sub-woofers.
>> Perhaps when the Bose Wave
>> >> was introduced they still had some work to do to perfect the concept.
>> After listening to the demo
>> >> CD which is included with the Bose Wave, and which includes the double
>> bass solo I mentioned
>> >> previously which sounded convincingly like there was a double bass in
>> the room, we listened to the
>> >> entire "Nutcracker Ballet" by Tchaikovsky. If you know the music of
>> Tchaikovsky, you know that he
>> >> makes a lot of use of descending scales; the Pathétique Symphony is
>> full of them and the tune of
>> >> one of the waltzes towards the end of Nutcracker is nothing but a
>> descending scale. I listened
>> >> particularly to these passages to see if the bass range was even and it
>> was very much so.
>> >>
>> >> A number of years ago, I purchased a CD on the Reference label of
>> military band music and was
>> >> really disturbed by the bass drum. This instrument should have no
>> definite pitch at all but on
>> >> this recording there was a very strong specific pitch and it made it
>> sound like you had your head
>> >> in the bass drum. I wrote a letter to the company pointing this out and
>> comparing it to some of
>> >> the fine Mercury recordings, (no pun intended), where the bass drum
>> sounds as it should. I got a
>> >> letter back from the company telling me that I could not communicate
>> directly with the recording
>> >> producer/engineer but that she had passed my message on to him, (a
>> Doctor something or another,
>> >> I've forgotten his name), who explained that I obviously am an
>> inexperienced listener with
>> >> inferior equipment. There was no point in pursuing the conversation any
>> further.
>> >>
>> >> db
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> On Tuesday, February 18, 2014 10:58:16 PM, Paul Stamler <
>> [log in to unmask]> wrote:
>> >>
>> >> Back when the Bose was introduced, my late mother bought one. After two
>> >>>days she sent it back; she said the bass sounded too boomy.
>> >>>
>> >>>Peace,
>> >>>
>> >>>Paul
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >
>> >
>> >
>>
>
>