You'd be missing out if you listened to the stereo mix with only one speaker. With two speakers, you're hearing the bass. What am I missing here?

I don't get this different degrees of wanting something. The "I only want to own and listen to this if it's a certain price" thing. With me I either absolutely want it, or absolutely don't. Price doesn't figuire into wanting it. Price may enter in to when I buy it, but I will buy it regardless eventually, even if price never goes down. A lower price won't make a particular album sound better or make me enjoy it more.

So if you wanted Abbey Road and it was $300, you'd get it at that price?

People have price thresholds for things. I want The Wrestler on Blu-ray, but I don't want to spend $25 for it. I'm waiting to find it at $15, and then I will buy it. I don't see why that's hard to understand. If I had unlimited funds I'd buy everything I wanted at any price, but I don't, so I can't. Instead, I have to determine at what price it is economically feasible for me to buy something at. I'm sure many people will end up deciding that $13.99 is an acceptable price for some of the Beatles albums, but not others. That's just the way it goes.

Cracks, pops and scratches are for people who don't take care of their albums. My father gave me his copy of Rubber Soul on vinyl that was a 1970's pressing (red label) but it was always kept in it's sleeves and I played the record a few nights ago before I went to bed, and there was not one skip or pop on either side. It sounded fantastic. I also have Abbey Road on vinyl and it's the same way.

If you take care of your vinyl, it still sounds good after 30 or 40 years. If it skips and pops, that's the fault of the owner not taking proper care.

That is true. Good example here would be the Amazon DOTD thread. There are a lot of albums that saw a massive boost in sales (as evidenced on pop catalog chart for instance) after Amazon put it on sale cheap for a day or two. Bryan Adams' Reckless for instance sold 9000 copies the week that Amazon offered it cheap one day, while it had sold less than 100 the week prior. Same happened with Thriller, iTunes sold it for cheap one week and sales were five times higher than the week before.

No I wouldn't pay $300 for Abbey Road but we're talking 2-3 dollars here. You absolutely WANT The Wrestler and are waiting to get it for $15, which is different from "I like it enough to pay $15, but the movie isn't good enough to pay anymore".

What I'm saying is, someone will buy certain Beatles albums at full price, but won't pay anymore than a certain lower price for others because they don't think they are that good. Even if they got them for free they still wouldn't be that good to that person. Or, I don't really want this album but will buy it if I can get it cheap. ???? An album is either good or it's not, you like it or you don't. Don't get the, I like this album $8 worth, I like this one $9 worth, and so on. If you think full retail is too high for some, then it should be too high for all, and wait to get your favorites at personal price threshold also. Never gotten a cd as a present that you would never buy yourself, don't care for? Does it sit never played, traded/sold, or do you listen to and say, "This ain't to bad for free". It sucks or it doesn't.

Just me I guess.

It isn't just a matter of whether it's good or it sucks. People may decide whether to buy something based on how often they think they'll listen to it or watch it. They won't give everything a grade of A or F.

Apologies for bumping the thread with no new info, but I was just wandering what everybody's doing with the 1987 CDs.

I've got Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt. Pepper's, Magical Mystery Tour, The White Album, Abbey Road, and Let It Be. Are these safe to get rid of, if I'm buying at least one of the box sets? Or is there any reason to hang onto them, in terms of different mixes or whatnot? I'm somewhere in-betweeen a casual and a hardcore Beatles fan, and don't keep up with all the different versions that are out there.

Give 'em to your kids.

If I have some in the next four months, that is certainly an option.

Give 'em to neighborhood (or relative's) kids...

Give 'em to your parents.

Keep 'em and then ebay them as "the OOP better sounding original versions" when the re-masters come out.

The point is that McCartney had spent zero time at the mixing board while the stereo mix was being made. If he had been hands-on for the mixing, he would have known where every nuance was. But in this anecdote, he didn't even know where to find his own instrument.

ETA: I didn't notice this was a bump.

Any links to look at the specs on either set?

I took a look tru the thread but could not find one, or just missed it. The Mrs is a HUGE beatles fan. I bught a record player so she could listen to the records she has acquired over the years. She LOVED it but I digress.

Thanks for any help.

Still not sure if I want to get the Mono Box Set and then add the missing Stereo Albums or just get the Stereo Box Set. Here is the artwork and layout for Abbey Road and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band:





I always held off buying The Beatles' catalog, and it looks like my wait is finally going to pay off.

No Sgt. Pepper cut-outs, no sale!

i can already see that kind of packaging to be a pain in the ass

Very true. I might keep my original '87 cases just to house my remasters!

I'm also not a fan of these LP-style paper sleeves being used to house CDs with more frequency nowadays. It's annoying to remove the disc from the sleeve and makes it more vulnerable to fingerprints and scratches.

Some of the digipak cases actually have a plastic tray that holds the disc. I don't see why those aren't used more often than the sleeves. You can have the same artwork beneath the clear tray and it prevents damage to the discs. It is as if the studios are unaware of CDs' susceptibility to scratches; sliding them alongside a tough cardboard paper is just asking to damage the discs.

Or maybe they're well aware of it, and wouldn't mind it if you damaged the disc and had to buy another?

I traded in my original 87 versions of the White Album and Sgt Peppers at the local record store for credit; I figure I'll buy just those two remasters first as I'd like to hear how they compare directly to the others, I'm not going to rush out and rebuy the whole catalog just yet as frankly I'm not a gigantic audiophile and frequently have trouble telling the difference on remasters (but "Love" did show a huge difference from the earlier CDs I noticed)

any word on price?

Haven't found anything about the U.S. release, although I haven't looked too hard either.

Both box sets are now on amazon.co.uk however. At current exchange rates, their current price for the stereo box equates to $221 and for the mono, $260.