Customer Reviews

The Doors Vinyl Box [180 Gram Vinyl]

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

For those of us waiting for a quality reissue of these LPs on vinyl this set is worth the $ and the wait. Many people like to do comparisons against other issues of these albums and I typically find it hard to fault one release over another...unless it is night and day. I feel as though this release was designed to mirror the original master tapes as much as possible while extracting out some of the detail lost in prior releases. By doing this, I think there is a give and take. When it comes to comparing remasterings I have a hard time saying one is better...they are just different (each having their own subjective pros and cons). For instance I find the detail and separtion of instruments to be more compeling in this remastering while there is slightly more bass in other releases. I give this set 4.5 stars on sound and 4.5 stars on packaging. My set looks great, no flaws. However, the sleeves do exhibit some wear from sliding back and forth across each other within the set...maybe they should have sealed these separately? That is my only complaint on packaging...no biggie.

CS

I'm an audio enthusiast. That being said, this is a great buy for anyone that enjoys the music of Jim Morrison and The Doors. Contrary to other reviewers, the music is well mastered and pressed on 180 gram vinyl. Personally, I've never heard these recordings sound so good. Morrison's voice comes through with power and authority. The music is crystal clear with a wide, dynamic sound stage & excellent separation. My turntable rig consists of a Technics SL-1210M5G and a Denon DL-160 MC Cartridge. When playing these records, it's almost as if I'm right there in the studio as they're being recorded. The first pressing of these re-releases by Rhino had some flaws which have been remedied/recalled by the manufacturer. Some packaging issues had also been addressed. Each record is inside it's own re-issued, original jacket and comes packaged in an attractive faux lizard skin box. It slides open from the side, rather than lifting open from the top. It's really a very nice box set, packaged neatly. Selling elsewhere for 200.00, compare to amazon's price of 150.00 with free shipping plus guarantee makes this a no-brainer. Buy with confidence from amazon. Great price, fast, free shipping and satisfaction guaranteed.

Five stars here.

As most of us know, this box has generated a tremendous amount of press in the audiophile vinyl collecting circles. It was produced and mastered by the loving and legendary hands of Bruce Botnick, Jac Holtzman, and vinyl guru, Bernie Grundman. The plan was to present the definitive Doors vinyl set that would capture the original magic of mint 1st run editions. They sold the set as replicas of the originals down to the packaging and would pack it all in a faux lizard skin box, with a hand numbered limited edition of 12,500. Doors fans and audiophiles alike relished the prospect of replacing their old, mostly inferior Doors vinyl with a set that should become legendary and highly collectible.

For the most part, they got the pressings right. Played on good turntable, these sound full, crisp and completely un-colored. For many of us, we have never heard an original Doors vinyl album, and certainly never the "mono" 1st lp. For me, these are the holy grail of Doors vinyl.

Now the cons: Seems that a number of people are having problems with scuffed lps and "worn" looking album sleeves. My box has a "crackly" sounding stereo 1st lp, and the outer jackets look like they have been sitting un-sealed in a record rack for 5 years. Plus the inner sleeves are not sleeves at all.... merely cheap repro's that fold-over around a white-sleeved lp. Not what I come to expect from deluxe audiophile boxed set editions from a band this acclaimed. Rhino needed to take a page out of the book of Classic Records, who have produced an extensive catalog of truly indispensible rocks titles from the 50's, 60's and 70's, complete with perfect reproductions of the original album packaging.

Now the silver lining: Rhino is backing their product. They have a program in force to replace damaged, defective or otherwise unacceptable components from your box, free of any charges including shipping. They also have a plan in place to cease distribution of any more sets in order to make the fix at the warehouse. So do not despair. This set will still be available.

Tempers are surely frayed because of all the confusion and inconvenience, but in the end, it's the music that matters most. These are the best Doors records I have ever heard. If you are a Doors fan and a vinyl collector, this is a must have set. Once they get the wrinkles ironed out at Rhino, this should be a highly sought-after package. I know, in spite of the glitches, I would never part with mine.

I have read some of the complaints other customers have registered and all I can say is they must be hard people to satisfy. I have no complaints- the sound is sharp and warm, the album covers look great and the faux black snakeskin box cover was the perfect finishing touch. I have listened to all the albums and have not detected a single defect. Well worth the purchase price.

This collection is everything I could hope it to be: A quality vinyl remastering with reproductions of the original packaging. Despite the negative comments of a few reviewers, I find the sound quality to be superb. It isn't perfect, but this is the best I've ever heard this music sound.

If anyone was to re-issue the Doors catalogue, who better to do it than Elektra founder Jac Holzman, original Doors engineer Bruce Botnick and master of mastering Bernie Grundman? I have read all the criticisms but if the critics were to read Bruce Botnick's liner notes they would be more forgiving.

This was not a simple re-mastering, but a restoration project. Some of the tapes were deteriorated which necessitated the use of digital equipment in the process. Sure, it isn't 100% analogue, but I certainly can't tell any difference.

The choice to remaster at half-speed, as Mr. Botnick explains, had a tradeoff. The sound quality is superior throughout the frequency range, with the exception of the lowest frequencies. The 1960's vintage equipment was not able to reproduce those frequencies accurately at half-speed so there is an apparent lack of low end. I did A/B comparisons with two of my original albums, Strange Days and Soft Parade. The low end on this remastering was as good as the originals - it just wasn't as improved as would be expected with a re-master. All things considered, they made the right choice to master at half speed.

Ideally, I want to hear a remaster sound exactly like an original release played on audiophile equipment. Isn't that why we listen to records instead of CDs? We want to hear it like it was originally meant to be heard. This collection is an accurate reproduction with an improvement in clarity.

My copy of the first album, side two, was defective. I contacted Rhino by e-mail and got a quick response. I was told I would be sent a replacement copy for that one record along with a 7" copy of the Light My Fire single. I believe they have, or are in the process of, correcting un-sold copies, which may explain why they have raised the price about $20.00

The individual album covers are exact copies of the original album covers, possibly digital photos of the originals. The color is too dark on a few of them but I'm being picky here. They aren't as heavy as the originals, but they need to be lighter to fit into a box set. The inner sleeves are quality static-free sleeves. As a nice touch they included reproductions of the original paper sleeves over the static-free ones. They even made the LA Woman album cover with the clear front and yellow sleeve inside. They only missed one tiny detail: The original Waiting For the Sun cover had the slot on the left so the record would be inserted from the inside of the cover instead of on the right.

I've played each of these records on a quality system through and through, over and over and over. I think they are as close to perfect as anyone but a critic could expect. Buy it now.

Updated July 29 2008: There have been many problems with quality of the first wave of shipments of this product. Rhino has acknowledged the problem (in a letter on their site). If you have problems, contact Dr. Rhino (on their site)...they are being very cooperative in helping to correct problems.

What can i say all the records are in originaly issued envelope and it's pleasure to have them in your hands. I already have some of the albums but the quality of these 180g vinyl is no mach to the old records. If you are Doors fan than this collection is symply must to have.

I read the comments on the quality of the pressings and the perceived lack of low end before purchasing it. I played the recordings through a completely analog setup, from a Thorens turntable, to a tube phono preamp then to a McIntosh 200 watt amp and finally to Monitor Audio floorstanding speakers. What I look for is a holographic soundstage more than anything else, like some of the best studio and live jazz recordings from the 50's and 60's. I think that this set has delivered on the promise of clean sound with greater resolution and detail than most of us have heard before. Yes, there is less low-end, but you can tamper with your setup or dial-in a subwoofer for a slight boost below 80 Hertz if you feel that is necessary. I think that listeners who are accustomed to overly massaged and boosted recordings on LP or CD will be disappointed, but not those looking for a faithful reproduction of the original studio sessions. I have no regrets in purchasing this set. I may purchase the recent CD set just for comparison purposes!

overall this set is just ok. i expected better from 180 gram vinyl. the very first lp has a loud pop and skip on "20th century fox" (and i clean my lp's and stylus before play),and a few more low "cracks" throughout the other songs!! the sound, though, is outstanding! i have only listened to 2 other lp's from this set, "morrison hotel",and "l.a. woman",these had very few "cracks" and were overall excellent. i just dont expect any skips,pops,or cracks from audiophile vinyl, or, i would have rated this a 5.

This is one that you should have !
The Doors as they were invented.
Great addition to my collection.