Van Morrison Astral Weeks WS 1768 1st UK Orange Label Excellent

	£		149
	$		197

Van Morrison Astral Weeks WS1678 -1/-2 UK 1st pressing.  This lp is from my personal collection that was inherited from my father who like myself has an interest in hifi. As a result this record and others that I will be listing have never been subject to inferior equipment such as heavy tonearms, sapphire styli, auto changers etc. It has been well cared for although it does show some obvious signs of usage.
The front cover has the usual creases along the spine and corners as you can hopefully see in the photograph. However, it is still very respectable and glossy looking with laminate fully intact.  The opening edge has signs of feathering but no tears. There is also some unavoidable light ring wear from the 150g disc.   The back cover still retains a general whiteness and appears only very slightly grubby towards the opening edge, with even less evidence of ring wear. All three flipbacks are intact. The disc is housed in a Nagaoka 102 anti static sleeve inside a generic white inner. The cover should grade as Vg+ due to the various imperfections listed.
The disc retains its glossy sheen. There is no perceptible 'greying' of the grooves. Side 1 has two very light unfeelable hairlines roughly 5cm long that do not affect playback at all. Side 2 looks to be free of any marks, and like side 1 displays a full gloss. The disc lies flat to the turntable.
The record has been play graded on a Garrard 401 turntable equipped with an Sme 3012 tonearm and Denon DL103r cartridge. This combination in conjunction with my low power single ended triode amp and high sensitivity Lowther PM4 speakers reveal a fair amount of detail. Please be aware that depending on how your system is set up and aligned you may get differing results. A inaccurately aligned tone arm and cartridge will reproduce more surface noise due to poor or mis tracking. At the other end of the scale, a fine line or other exotic stylus profiles may perform even better than the play grade.  Understandably I can only report on my findings with my given equipment which in general circumstances is quite accurate.
In accordance with the Record Collector grading system I will confidently visually grade the disc as excellent due to the two previously mentioned marks and likewise for playback.
There is very light surface noise in the bands between some tracks that really is negligible and others near to complete silence.  There are no clicks or pops during playback and no deterioration of quality towards the end of either side as is often the case when played on poor equipment without anti skating facilities. All frequencies are reproduced with real clarity, including "The Way Young Lovers Do" which has some high modulations from the the horn section. Bass is firm, guitar and vibraphone are extremely lifelike with a clear top end. If you are looking for a disc that is absolutely perfect from start to finish I politely request you to pass on this. However, judging on previous auctions this example is certainly in the realms of being very desirable, and I have yet to find an example in past listings that is truly a far better copy.
If you require more detail on any aspect I will happy to respond to your queries where able.
The disc and inner sleeves will be removed from the outer sleeve and packed securely. If you have any specific packing instructions I will be happy to help.
Postage is approximate and will be worked out at auctions end.
In accordance with Ebay/Paypal protection scheme all items must be sent with a trackable service.
I no longer ship to Italy due to so many 'lost' parcels.
Please check my 100% feedback which relates to honest descriptions, packing and a professional service.
As record grading and reproduction is such a subjective area, I unfortunately do not accept returns at this time due to some very unfair and dishonest buyers in the past. I would never grossly misrepresent any item as my feedback comments will reflect. My description and play grade is based on my experience only. I do hope that this is understandable and acceptable.
I kindly ask you to refrain from bidding if you are not in agreement with any of these terms.
Thank you for your time and interest.





 

 
  

Posted with eBay Mobile