Charles Mingus Mingus Ah Um Columbia PC 8171 Audiophile TAS Super Disc List

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• Charles Mingus.
• Mingus Ah Um.
• Columbia PC 8171.
• Terre Haute Pressing.
• Awarded "SPECIAL MERIT: Informal" By The Absolute Sound audiophile magazine.

Item Details
Manufactured in: USA
Pressing By: Columbia Records Pressing Plant, Terre Haute, IN ("T" in matrix)
Recorded: May 5,12 At Columbia 30th Street Studio, NYC
Original Issue: September 14, 1959
This Issue: Unknown, (yellow text "one-eye" label), I bought it in the early 1980's
Label: Columbia PC 8171
Runout Deadwax Matrix Numbers:
Side 1: (etch:) XSM 47458 G2B (stamp:) D (etch:) G1 BS < 5-AD>
Side 2: (stamp:) XSM 47459-1AF (etch:) T1 (stamp:) COLUMBIA NY A (etch:) 15
Was bought new by this seller many years ago and now offered from his private collection (you have absolutely known provenance). Has had just a few plays only on an expertly setup high-end audiophile turntable, arm, and cartridge. Has never been exposed to heat or tobacco smoke and always stored vertically in a specially designed record cabinet (Rackit) to prevent warpage.
Was cleaned on a VPI HW 16 with Audio Intelligent solutions and ultra-pure water rinse (50X purer than distilled water) before my pre-sale sound check. I neutralize residual static charge with a Zerostat immediately after cleaning. I wear nitrile surgical gloves while cleaning and play testing to avoid any chance of transferring finger oils to the vinyl.

Very sensitive play testing was performed straight off my Ayre P-5xe fully balanced phono preamp over Sennheiser HD 600 headphones using a Schiit Audio Valhalla 2 tube headphone amp fitted with NOS Soviet Voskhod matched tubes (see last photo).

Track list
For track listings, please see my attached record label photographs.

I never take "distant" photos nor the so-prevalent type with the LP sticking halfway out of the jacket. I take close-ups under photo lamps so you can see nearly everything I describe in the jacket grading. It is virtually impossible to know the true vinyl condition from any photograph. That takes very bright and close visual inspection PLUS play testing with thorough coverage on high resolution equipment.
Grading Details
Note: Grading LPs by text characters is subjective and at best are only a guide as no two used records are of exactly the same quality. Please, refer to both my photo evidence and detailed descriptions to judge by YOUR OWN grading standards. Questions are always welcome. eBay no longer allows me to enter separate grades for each side of the sleeve or record so you may not see any in the box above but are listed below. Play quality is personally most important to me so vinyl visual qualities are graded and described in detail separately for your complete assessment.

Outer Jacket Inspection/grading:
NM-/NM--
The front of jacket is beautifully smooth and satiny gloss. It has only a few very minor artifacts: 1)the lower right corner has just a touch of blunting, 2)top right corner has a touch of blunting, 3)a bit of edge curling in the upper right corner, 4)has three tiny "white spots" above the "R" at top right edge that look like an original finish flaw. The rear face has a straight horizontal line of discoloration just above the title below center edge. There are four spine creases with two of them about 1" in length. I think its overall closer to NM than VG so I gave it an NM--.

Vinyl visual inspection/grading:
NM/NM-
The only visual artifact I could find on Side 1 at close eye level was one short faint "grayish" surface streak in the 2nd half of T3. I made a note to check that track 100% during play testing. Side 2 was beautiful when checked at arm's length but when rotating and tilting I found a few light gray "surface trails" in one quadrant within the T3-T4 bands. None of these on either side looked at as if they might affect the groove modulations. They appeared to be only on the very top surface of the vinyl. Still, I made a note listen carefully through all those areas.

Play Testing:
NM/NM
Extensive play testing was performed after visual inspection (continuous written notes were taken). I listened to the beginning, middle, and end of each track for a few minutes on each needle drop. When the track width was noticeably greater I took more play samples to get good coverage. I also listened to all lead-in, lead-out and transition grooves between each track. Some tracks were played all the way thru when digitizing my favorites to 96k/24-bit WAV files. This allowed me to go back and re-check some of my notes on digital playback in ProTools. Here is rundown of each side from those notes.

Side 1 Play
T1 had a single tick right before the music started. During the music there was a total absence of vinyl noise. Additionally, I heard why this album has gotten so many accolades for its audiophile performance. Some of the qualities that impressed me were realistic dynamic range and projection of all the instruments, their tonal purity, the 3-D space they seemed to occupy, fully intact harmonics, and absolute clarity. T2 is my favorite track that has been highly praised by critics and worth having the album all by itself. The power and projection of the instruments is perfect. I only heard a couple of "micro-ticks" and they were non-distracting. If you have never heard this track before, it's worth will be totally apparent once you do. The recording and reproduction of the drums was what got me on T3. The massed brass reed instrument harmonies were incredibly rich on T4. as they also were on T5. Audiophile sonics and quiet vinyl easily won an NM from me.

Side 2 Play
All of the positive qualities I listed for Side 1 are also here on Side 2. At the end of T1 I felt that this side may even be better. T2 is a wide track so I took more samples that and found it to be consistently clear and free of vinyl noise. T3 had one single "tick" in the 1st few seconds but nothing after it. I was blown away by the natural tonal accuracy of the trombone in T4. That track just had one small tick in the last few grooves. Unquestionably the side was a solid NM

This album in any form or age is a classic that belongs in every jazz lover's collection. It's audio qualities are so good it just begs to be played on a top-notch analog sound system. I sure hope it finds an appreciative new home.

Packaging

• Record will be placed outside the jacket to protect against seam splitting.
• Original inner sleeve is included separately.
• Record has been placed into a new MFSL-style "rice paper" plastic sleeve, as the original is paper which can be abrasive and may be holding onto some dust. This will keep vinyl surfaces clean and protected during shipping and ultimate buyer usage.
• Outer jacket is contained in a new clear polyethylene protective sleeve.
• Sent in high quality record mailer with cardboard stiffeners and all corners double-taped.

Shipping

• Shipping will be via USPS Media Mail for a flat charge of $3.98 per single album sale.
• A combined shipping discount is available on multiple sales completed on the same day($3.98 plus $0.50 for each additional LP).
• If you do buy more than one LP  on the same daydo not pay immediately but wait for my all-combined invoice.eBay does give you the option to "Request an invoice from the buyer," but this option is not available on the eBay mobile app. A discount for the combined items will show on that invoice. Then, once payment is received, the items will ship.