Chicago in Surround

Thanks for your article on the Chicago Transit

Authority album, one the very best ever made by any band. My original Columbia double LP survived my ex-wife, is still in very good condition, and sounds excellent on my very modest vinyl system: Technics DL-D2 turntable with an Ortofon 2 Blue cartridge, a Pioneer SX550 receiver, an IFI Zen phono pre-amp, and Klipsch RP600M speakers. My big disappointment was with the Mobile Fidelity SACD which I recently bought and played through a much better system. It sounds very anemic, without any sort of body compared with the old vinyl, which is light years better, at least to my ears. If CTA is ever re-mixed in 5.1, I’ll be more than happy to get it, but for now my old vinyl will do.

Francesco Tenti / Huntington, NY

As a multi-decade subscriber to Sound & Vision in its various forms, I must say my all-time favorite part of the magazine is the current final column, Remaster Class. The album Chicago Transit Authority, one of my favorites for sure, is examined in detail in the February/march issue. I own several of these releases, but not the Blu-ray version positively reviewed. Two questions.

First, what kind of system does one need to play this disc successfully? Also, I don’t believe that the Mobile Fidelity SACD receives comments. Is there a reason? Thanks for a great publication!

Damon Surgener / Lexington, KY

AG responds: To listen to the 2016 Rhino Quadio Blu-ray box set that Mike Mettler covered in his Remaster Class column on Chicago Transit

Authority, you will need a Blu-ray disc player and a surround sound processor or receiver with DTS- HD Master Audio decoding capability, along with a surround sound speaker system. Actually, the CTA mix is in Quad, so in this specific case you’ll only need four speakers— two in front and two in the rear of the room.

MM responds: Thanks for the kind words, Damon! The truth is, sometimes I have to make judgment calls on what releases get covered in Remaster Class because of space limitations, pure and simple. In this case, I felt the other CTA releases discussed therein all warranted the more detailed commentary. If you’re a latter- day SACD fan, then by all means, feel free to climb aboard the 2014 Mofi DSD SACD stereo- only train. But as I noted in the column, I continue to prefer the 2016 Rhino DTS- HD Master Quadio 4.0 mix in 24-bit/192khz on Blu-ray above all other current CTA listening options.