Conference cookie::notes$archive:cd_v1

P.S.  I forgot to mention that the Electric Gramophone carries only classical
      stuff.  If you want rock or jazz, he sends you over to Rock 'n Mania in
      Framingham.  Also, he's open from 7:00-9:00 every night.  If you want to
      just go in and listen, that's the best time to do it.  Don't go on a
      Saturday unless you just want to buy and get out.

I, too, have heard that the guy at Electric Grammaphone is great to do business
with.  One of my audiophile friends says he bought his CD player there, even
though he knew he could buy it cheaper elsewhere, just because he likes the
guy's personal touch (like letting him take several machines home with him to
do A-B comparisons!)

I have had two friends complain to me about Rick when it comes to returning
defective items.  One of them had bought around $1000.00 worth of stuff and
yet when he went to return a defective item Rick got very defensive.  Neither
of them care to purchase from him again.  They like his selection but don't
figure it is worth the hassle if something turns up defective.  Also if
you dislike smoke, you will dislike Rick puffing his pipe.  He does have a
very good classical selection.

re .3

Rick no  longer smokes, in fact he told me quit quite sometime ago. Also the
person  who  purchased  over $1000 has resolved the problem with Rick and is
again  making  purchases  at  The Electric Gramophone. I was there about 1.5
weeks ago and there was a very good selection of classical CDs.

Beware of the $13.00 specials he has though.  I bought one and found out
it was a defective disc.  He let me return it without any questions, but
a second time I went back and asked about one of the $13.00 discs, and he
said that he didn't offer the full service with them (whatever is meant by
full service).  I am assuming that they are discs that will probably not
be objectionable on players with good error correction (in fact, I had to
listen hard to hear the errors on the Toshiba he had in the store, but my
CDP-101 had a really rough time with it) but I would be wary about buying
any of them without the option of returning if defective.

While his disc prices are quite a bit higher than you can get elsewhere,
($16-$17) he will spend the time to try to understand what you are looking
for and help you get something you will like.

						-Dave

I have bought several of the $13 specials and have had no problems.
According to Rich, they are not defective in any way. He says he simply
likes to keep an assortment offered at a lower price. I usually see
some in the $13 bin that are also in the regular bins at $16, so I
advise browsing through the $13 bin first. The $13 bin is also in
alphabetical order, by the way, so it's not like sorting through the
'budget bin' at some stores...
     What he means by full service is this (I think): He is generally
willing to open and let you listen to any of the full price CD's. He
is also willing to spend time helping you, talking with you about the
performance, etc.  This doesn't hold for the $13 discs though. He won't
open them, he won't help you look through them. I found this out the hard
way when a friend and I went there. He said he would play any CD's that
we might want to hear. So my friend got one, and sure enough he opened it
up and let us play it. Then I found one which I wanted to hear. It came,
however, from the $13 bin. He hadn't said anything before, but now he
said "Oh, sorry, I won't play that because it's from the $13 bin."  I
was frankly a little annoyed at his attitude; or maybe he just explained
it poorly. He said point blank that at $13 it was not worth his time or
energy to make an extra effort for a sale. I didn't really understand,
because it was a weekday and my friend and I were the only ones in the
store. I mean, he wasn't doing anything else, so why not help me? I would
think that if it could increase the possibility of a sale, or more
importantly, gain a friend and loyal customer, that would be worth it to
him. Instead he made me feel like a second class customer because I
had taken him up on his offer but (unknowingly) picked out a CD from
the $13 bin. If he had made his initial offer more clear everything
would have been fine because I would have known not to ask for any favors
or info about discs in the $13 bin.
    So, that's what I think he means by 'full service'. As far as I know
you can return the $13 discs if they are defective (although I have not
needed to try), and they $13 discs are still factory sealed and as free
of defects as his full price discs.

One final thought (re .6): the $13 bin does not just contain wierdo labels
or obscure pieces either. It contains real live pieces that you might
actually be looking for! He says he keeps the $13 bin to encourage people
to come in and browse. So, again, if you go there, check out the $13
bin first.

I remember once when I was looking at a disk and Rick told me that it
was probably also in the $13.00 bin.  In fact, he went over and found
it for me.  I think he has gotten a lot of hassle about that bin, so
he as taken to not helping folks much when they look there.  Also, he
told me that his algorithm for what goes into the $13.00 bin involves
what he has a lot of stock of - NOT what he pays wholesale for the
disks (with exceptions, like Telarc).  So when he sells a disk for
$13.00 he is making three bucks less profit than when he sells the same
disk for $16.00.  He also told me recently that he figures the $13.00
bin is like Lechemeres, you don't get expert help.  Actually it's not
like Lechemeres, since you don't get 200 screeming kids looking for
the Michael Jackson disks...

Rick is a bit funny about some things - But I'm glad the store is there
(and that he's given up the pipe).

				Paul

I haven't experienced any reduction in service on items in the $13 bin.  I
asked Rick's advice on two items I found there last night:  a two-disc set
of "West Side Story", and a London recording of Copland, with Antal Dorati
and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.  He unhesitatingly told me that the
recording of "West Side Story" was crap, but the Copland was excellent.  I
bought the Copland.

By the way, Rick handed me the following notice last night, and asked that
it be circulated among his DEC customers.

    The following notice has been posted in our record department:

    "DUE TO LACK OF DEMAND, WE WON'T BE SELLING LP'S AFTER CHRISTMAS.
    NO 'FINAL SALE' IS PLANNED."

    We hasten to point out that our record department is not failing.
    In fact, it's been more successful this year than in any year in
    the past seven.  What's happened is that the Compact Disc is now
    taking over where records and tapes left off.

    We plan no "final sale" because we intend to dispose of remaining
    inventory through wholesale channels or donation.

    There are some very fine imported and domestic selections still
    in stock at competitive prices.  We encourage those who have not
    fallen prey to the new laser beam/digital technology to come on
    in for one last look at what we have to offer.

    Of course, those who haven't yet heard a good Compact Disc vs LP
    demonstration should do so soon at...

	   ELECTRIC GRAMOPHONE   a truly unique stereo store
	  Mill Village, Sudbury, Mass. 01776   (617) 443-3703

	
	Rick is just human, like any other person.  I once noticed him
getting defensive about oversampling versus non-oversampling players, and
it's just being human.  But he's polite, runs an honest business and 
really *will* tell you what's good and what's not.  

	He *has* opened up $13 disks for me (and I didn't even buy- it was
Bach's Goldberg variations and they were just too abstract for me).  He 
still greeted me the next time I came in to the store, and let me listen
to another disk (Bach Harpsichord concertos, very good, I bought it).

	He's just human, with good and bad days, personal life, car,
house, bills and obligations.  He does know his stock well (he usually knows
it from memory- and can tell you if something is in the overstock
bin without looking).  Be mellow, you have bad days too.  
	
	Besides, the world is certainly a better place for the existence
of types like Rick and the E. G.

    
    I made my first trip to E.G. yesterday. Impressive. Rick's knowledge
    of classical music, it's availibility on CD (I've been looking for
    a series of complete recordings of Bach Cantatas. He knew who had
    undertaken this very ambitious project, how far they'd gotten, and
    assessed their chances of ever finishing. Had one of the 17 Teldec
    sets in stock). I was looking for Telemann and Scarlatti; he had
    about 2 linear feet of each, and culled them down to a recommended
    few.
    
    I expect I'll be making the trip to Sudbury about once a month.
    

Rick's selection is definitely impressive, but not really any better than you'd
find in Harvard Square by walking around to the various stores.

His prices are not good. I recently bought three disks there:  one from his $13
overstocks, a Telemann for $17, and a Liszt/Brahms for $18.

I had been looking for the Telemann for a while and had not seen it cheaper
elsewhere.  Of course, the next day I saw it for $14.99.  The Liszt/Brahms
was probably a good deal, as I saw it at the Coop for $21.49 the next day.

But I was annoyed anyway, because I picked it out on the recommendation of
a friend who was there with me and bought Rick's last $17 copy at the same
time; he had just raised his prices on that disk to $18.  "I'm sorry, that's
the way it is; I price them when they come in."

/john

    After reading all the hype about Electric Gramaphon, I just had
    to run over there and check things out.  I ended up buying two CDs
    at $16 each, one with Rubenstein playing seven of Chopin's Polonaises
    (piano), and also a disk with Kunzel conducting the Cincinnati Pops
    who play a variety of pieces including William Tell's Overture and
    The Light Cavalry (I am no fan of Kunzel or this second rate "band",
    but I couldn't find anything else better at the time).
    
    I liked the personal touch Rick tries to give when selling his CDs,
    and I especially liked being able to listen to the music before
    hand.  There was a vast collection of music for everyone's liking,
    and I was pretty impressed.
    
    Shortcomings : I still think CDs are too expensive (doesn't everyone)
    and although he had the thirteen dollar collection, I couldn't find
    anything of any quality there...also, I disagree with his opinion
    about Herbert von Karajan.  We talked about the new set of Beethoven
    Symphonies that has been released by Deutsche Gramaphon with Herbert
    von Karajan and the Berliner Philharmonik, and Rick expressed his
    belief that the rendering is too Prussian, precise and yet lifeless.
    
    I disagree, as I've always believed Karajan and the Berliner
    Philharmonik to do excellent work with Beethoven.  As for the Prussian
    flavour, Beethoven was every bit German, and so why not a little
    Prussian.  I find Karajan to put every bit of life and grandeur
    into his work, producing a full and vibrant orchestral performance!!
    
    Eh...enough of that!
    
    /Sunil

    
    The reviews I've read like Karajan's 1977 set over the more recent
    digital version. Which are you talking about here? (I've got one
    of that 1977 set and wasn't overly impressed.)

    I am talking about the new CD set just put out.  I heard part of
    the ninth, and I really liked it - vibrant and solid.  In fact,
    many people still accredit Karajan as giving the best presentation
    for Beethoven - he has taken a specialty towards Beethoven's works.
    
    On a tangent for a moment, there is one thing I have just recently
    encountered with classical CDs...I can hear mistakes of individual
    instruments once in a while.  For example, the specific case where
    I encountered this was with von Karajan and the Berliner Philharmonik
    playing The Planets (Holst).  There were two specific mistakes I
    picked up, although there were probably more that I didn't pay
    attention to.  My friends say I am just a little too picky, because
    until I pointed out a wrong note played by both a trombone and trumpet,
    they had never noticed anything wrong.
    
    I get very upset when I hear mistakes, though.  It sends a little
    chill up my spine.  I guess most people would probably not pick
    up these little errors. 
    
    Has anyone else noticed pieces where you've heard bad notes or
    instruments off key, etc???
    
    /Sunil

    Prussian eh? Herbert von Karajan is actually Austrian.

    
    Many people dislike him, often (but not always) for extra-musical
    reasons.

    What are the extra-musical reasons??  And as for being Austrian
    rather than Prussian, it is in the flavour of the music that one
    might find it Prussian, as I meant style and not the origin of the
    conductor.
    
    I am interested in some of the extra-musical reasons though...
    
    /Sunil

    Maybe someone with a good knowledge of conductors could give a little
    historical perspective of Von Karajan and his association with the
    Nazi party before and during WWII.  My understanding is that he
    was a member of the party, not because of political reasons, but
    because non-members often found brilliant careers suddenly disappear
    on them.  After the war ended, he suffered from neglect due to the
    fact that the hatred of anything Nazi was still fresh.
    
    I'm not a great fan of Von Karajan, but I have several DG CD's of
    his performances with the Berlin Philharmonic, and they're all quite
    good.  For what it's worth, I've seen his version of Holst's planets
    listed as one of the worst classical CD's released thus far.
    DG probably released it without Karajan's blessings (not unusual
    for recording companies).
    
            Marty