John Klemmer Touch MFSL 1-006 Half Speed Original Master Recording Audiophile NM

$

20

• John Klemmer.
• Touch.
• Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab 1-006.
• First MFSL Pressing (based on Matrix below).
• Half Speed Remaster By Stan Ricker.
• Pressed in Japan using JVC "Supervinyl" developed for CD-4 Quadradisc LPs.

Item Details
Manufactured in: USA/Japan
Recorded: July, August 1975 at Mama Joes, North Hollywood, CA
Lacquer Cut By: Stan Ricker (SR/2 in matrix below) at JVC Cutting Center Hollywood CA
Pressing by: JVC Yokohama Japan
Label: Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab MFSL 1-006
Original Issue: 1975
This Issue: 1978
Runout Deadwax Matrix Numbers:
Side 1: (stamp:) MFSL (etch:) 1(stamp:)-006-A 1 1 1 ? ? (etch:) AIL SR/2 (stamp:) PRESSED IN JAPAN
Side 2: (stamp:) MFSL (etch:) 1(stamp:)-006-B 1 5 2 ? L (etch:) SR/2

Half speed mastering allows the cutting head twice as much time to render the groove. This means more fine detail on playback (especially in the highs) and less waver on long sustained notes.
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 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 Voskhod Soviet matched tubes (see last photo).

Track list
1: Touch, Glass Dolphins, Waterwheels, Free Fall Lover.

2: Sleeping Eyes, Body Pulse, Tone Row Weaver, Walk With Me My Love And Dream.

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: Record grading by text characters is subjective and does not fully describe quality levels. Please see photos and my detailed descriptions below.

Outer Jacket Inspection:
NM--/NM--
I would rate the jacket between NM and VG++ but its closer to NM so I added an extra minus. The jacket front and back faces are NM, but there is noticeable rubbing wear on all three closed edges. There are no split seams or even a hint of one, just moderate rub wear.

Vinyl visual inspection:
Tilting at all angles under bright halogen light just did not show up anything I could describe. Both sides seemed visually perfect to me.

Play Testing:
NM/NM
Extensive play testing was performed after visual inspection. I listened to the beginning, middle, and end of each track for a few minutes on each needle drop. 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 192k/24-bit WAV files. Continuous written notes were taken. Here is rundown of each side from my notes.

Side 1 Play
Its been so many decades since I last played this LP I forgot how great it was. T1, the title cut was always my favorite. Probably the reason my "serious listener" buddies were all buying the MFSL version was for this "show-off" track. The percussion at the opening is ethereal and well supported by the 1/2 speed re-mastering process. I could hear the high frequency extension without a hint of harshness. The vinyl was very quiet too, right into the short transition grooves. T2 has lower play levels. T3 is nice moody smooth jazz, and I liked the pre-echo mixing effects on the vocals and John's sax in T4.

Side 2 Play
The lead-in groove entry into T1's start on Side 2 had a couple of low level repeating "swoosh" vinyl sounds that quickly just got quieter. The track had more of that fast-edge percussion reproduced with very high fidelity. T3 has a very delicate intro but builds into some weightier song development. I need to give accolades to Dave Grusin's contributions to this side on Electric Piano as it was really superb.

I'm really glad I was able to digitize my old favorites off this album before listing it. The music is great but so is MFSL's re-mastering of it. The audio fidelity is outstanding, Stan Ricker's lacquer cutting is always first rate, and the Japanese pressing makes for vinyl that doesn't intrude upon the listening experience. MFSL had the state-of-the-art re-mastering processes for pre-released music in this album's time frame. The only times I could detect any vinyl noise was in the quietest of musical passages. The character of that noise was merely random very tiny ticks of low high frequency energy that did not pull me away from the music. My conclusion after play testing was that both sides were solidly NM.

Packaging

• Record will be placed outside the jacket to protect against seam splitting.
• Original card stock protective folder and quality assurance card are included separately.
• Record has been placed into a new genuine MFSL "Original Master Sleeve" as the original, even though plastic lined, may be holding onto some dust. This will keep vinyl surfaces clean during shipping and ultimate buyer usage.
• Outer jacket is contained in a new clear polyethylene protective sleeve.
• Sent in good quality record mailer with cardboard stiffeners.

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. A discount for the combined items will show on that invoice. Then, once payment is received, the items will ship.