Sit back … have a cup of coffee … and enjoy the music

Most of us (the so-called audiophiles) suffer from varying degree of 'audiophilia nervosa' and constantly upgrade our music playback systems either by adding accessories or changing gears, cables included. I am no exception and truth is some upgrades do not bring about real improvement to sonics but merely differences which I could go without. There are also audiophiles who only listen to CDs/SACDs with their high-end systems tweaked to approximate the analogue sound. This is interesting for I wonder wouldn't it wiser to add into their systems, a decent turntable and phono stage. I have done likewise with no regrets!

It was on a late Sunday morning when I penned down this short posting, fresh from shower after clearing my weekly house chores, with a cup of coffee in hand. I powered up my main system and gave the newly acquired reissued copy of Teresa Teng's 15th Anniversary 180 gram single (817143-1) LP a quick spin on my Rega P5. I am not exactly a big fan of her but found this album to be a good sampler of her work over the years. I began to enjoy her songs instantly. The same, however, could not be said when I playback the same album through an early 24K gold CD (since sold off to a friend) nor even the JVC K2 XRCD2 with 19 songs in total (don't mind parting with it now).



















The album was first released in 1983 by Polydor (now Universal Music) marking Teresa Teng's 15 years anniversary with the recording label and a compilation of her hit songs throughout the period but not those from her earlier stints with Yew Jou (宇宙) Records and Life (丽风) Records. During her heydays, Teresa Teng's voice was such a hit throughout Asia especially in places with large Asian populace that it was often claimed, "有华人的地方, 就有邓丽君的歌声" or wherever there are Chinese people, Teresa Teng's voice could be heard.

The single 180g LP contains only 14 songs and has 1 song less than ordinary CDs, ie. her rendition of 月亮代表我的心 (the moon represents my heart) is missing. I could easily live with that as I strongly feel that the best artiste who sang this song best is Chyi Ching (齊秦).

Have fun listening and enjoy the music. Do check out this cool webpage: http://philip.greenspun.com/materialism/stereo
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