[Infidel]

Worry about which pressings later.  For now just listen to the music.  First and foremost, let your ears decide.
When you find something that really speaks to you, they you can find the pressing you want. 
 For me, music I love on a mediocre recording beats a great recording of something I don't like any day of the week.   

Hope you find some value in the lists and recommendations made here.

Generally good advice. I do think that "artists" have the ability to so mutilate a piece that one might think that they hate one that done well they may love. I suppose that's been part of my holding back, but upon reflection, such things usually self correct over time. Thanks for your good advice.

[Tyson]

If by chance you DO want some specific recordings and groups, especially if you get a streaming service like Tidal or Qobuz (which can be overwhelming), here's a list of great performances and great sounding recordings I put together fairly recently.  It starts with Vivaldi and Bach (older classical music) and goes all the way through Mozart, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky and finally Stravinsky in more or less chronological order of the time the composers composed the music:

Vivaldi - 4 Seasons - Alessandrini & Concerto Italiano
Vivaldi - Opera Arias - Roberta Invernizzi
Bach - Goldberg Variations - Murray Perahia
Bach - Brandenburg Concertos - Cafe Zimmermann
Haydn - Middle Symphonies - Kalmar & Oregon Symphony Orchestra
Haydn - String Quartet - Angeles String Quartet
Mozart - Piano Concertos 12 and 17 - Brendel & Mackerras & Scottish Chamber Orchestra
Mozart - Symphony 40 - Abbado or Mathieu Herzog
Beethoven - Symphony 7 - Rattle & Berlin Philharmonic
Beethoven - Triple Concerto - Aimard & Harnoncourt
Beethoven - String Quartet 10 ‘Harp’ - Artemis Quartet
Beethoven - Kreutzer Violin Sonata - Lara St John & Herskowitz.  Full set - Gatto & Libeer
Beethoven - Piano Sonata 23 ‘Appassionata’ - Richard Goode
Schubert - Trout Quintet - Alfred Brendel & Cleveland Quartet
Schubert - Death and the Maiden Quartet - Quatuor Arod
Brahms - Piano Concerto 2 - Emil Gilels & Eugen Jochum
Chopin - Nocturnes - Daniel Barenboim
Tchaikovsky - Piano Concerto 1 - Martha Argerich and Charles Dutoit
Rachmaninov - Piano Concerto 3 - Trpceski & Petrenko
Rachmaninov - Symphonic Dances - Petrenko & Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
Prokofiev - Symphonies - Litton & Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra
Prokofiev - Piano Concerto 2 and 3 - Freddy Kemp & Andrew Litton & Bergin Philharmonic Orchestra
Mahler - Symphony 8 - Dudamel & Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra
Sibelius - Violin Concerto - Hilary Hahn & Salonen & Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra
Dvorak - Cello Concerto - Soltani & Barenboim & Staatskapelle Berlin
Elgar - Cello Concerto - Segev & Also & London Philharmonic
Stravinsky - The Rite of Spring - Heras-Casado & New Paris Orchestra

[Infidel]

Thanks Tyson, that should take quite awhile to go through. Hopefully I may have a better idea of what I prefer. I am not a drinker, but as I understand it most start drinking desert, sweet, wine, and somehow doing so over time changes their palates, and in time the development an appreciation for dryer wines. I imagine that classical music may take a similar cultivation to truly appreciate much of it. Thanks again. I hope to start digging in on Sunday. I am still trying to decide which of 2 amps I prefer. One, speaking of wine, is quite full bodied, the other may be more refined. I won't have that sorted out by Sunday, but classical may make the differences pronounced enough to make the decision easier. BTW, if you know someone getting started in audio, and who likes full bodied, less detailed but quite livable music, I just bypassed the crappy Muse caps in a Lyr, pre/headphone amp with .01uf Duelund copper foil bypass caps. While it isn't perfect, it's something that I could actually live with now. I highly recommend it for anyone who has one, or needs a moderate costing preamp that is able to punch well above its cost. I'll likely use that too, just to check it out with headphones. The caps have less than an hour burn in, so it will likely still improve too.

[Tyson]

Thanks Tyson, that should take quite awhile to go through. Hopefully I may have a better idea of what I prefer. I am not a drinker, but as I understand it most start drinking desert, sweet, wine, and somehow doing so over time changes their palates, and in time the development an appreciation for dryer wines. I imagine that classical music may take a similar cultivation to truly appreciate much of it. Thanks again. I hope to start digging in on Sunday. I am still trying to decide which of 2 amps I prefer. One, speaking of wine, is quite full bodied, the other may be more refined. I won't have that sorted out by Sunday, but classical may make the differences pronounced enough to make the decision easier. BTW, if you know someone getting started in audio, and who likes full bodied, less detailed but quite livable music, I just bypassed the crappy Muse caps in a Lyr, pre/headphone amp with .01uf Duelund copper foil bypass caps. While it isn't perfect, it's something that I could actually live with now. I highly recommend it for anyone who has one, or needs a moderate costing preamp that is able to punch well above its cost. I'll likely use that too, just to check it out with headphones. The caps have less than an hour burn in, so it will likely still improve too.

Oh, absolutely.  I only buy used gear, and then proceed to mod the hell out of it Duelunds are great caps, as are Miflex copper.

[Infidel]

Miflex, never use email.  😉 My favorite gets pricy. I really like ODAMs bypassed with CuTF V-Caps.

Oh, absolutely.  I only buy used gear, and then proceed to mod the hell out of it Duelunds are great caps, as are Miflex copper.

[Infidel]

One of the amps I am trying to choose between is a Threshold Stasis 2. I replaced all the driver resistors with Resista resistors primarily and Holcos where I was unable to source Resistas. This has since been mimicked, I replaced the carbon output emitter resistors with Mills. I used Black Gates on the driver boards. I figured out that it would be less expensive to have Jon Soderberg update the output transistors, to get matched transistors you have to buy a ton, and unless you do this all the time, the ones outside of the tolerances are junk. Jon also had bigger PS caps. Gone is the, it needs hours to warm up, meaning it needs to warm up the carbon resistors and dry them out, and gone is the masking done by them as well. Some like a warm sound, I like proper timbre, soundstage, details, etc. The old beast really delivers now. Jon said it was the best sounding Stasis amp he ever heard. Who else would swap out resistors on the driver boards? I've played with internal wiring a bit since, but it is a pretty awesome amp. Playing with a JC5 now. We'll have to see how that goes. By playing I mean listening. I don't believe it needs work. It's just a matter of sound preference between the two.

[Tyson]

After many years running SS gear, I'm pretty much an all tube guy now.  With the occasional excursion in to First Watt/Pass land.  I just could never get the the core tonality right with SS amps.  Try as I might.

[Infidel]

Easy, get the latest version of Don Sachs' DS2, he may have 1 left, bypass the ODAMs with CuTF V-Caps, and run that into a neutral SS amp, the best of both worlds.

[Tyson]

Easy, get the latest version of Don Sachs' DS2, he may have 1 left, bypass the ODAMs with CuTF V-Caps, and run that into a neutral SS amp, the best of both worlds.

Actually, one of my power amps is a custom design that Don Sachs helped me with.  I wanted something like a Kootenay but with KT66's instead of KT88's.  It was a 1 off build, and I'm super happy I have it as I like the KT66's a lot more than the KT88's. 

Here's a full list of all the amps I own currently.  Some people roll tubes.  I roll amps.  Haha, it's maybe a little out of hand....

First Watt Burning Amp 3 (BA3)
First Watt Aleph J
Don Sachs "baby-Kootenay" KT66 Push-Pull
Custom EL84 Push-Pull (based on ANK EL84 amp)
Dennis Had Inspire MB14 Single Ended Pentode Monoblocks
Almarro A318B 6C33C SET
TAL Korneff Type 45 SET
Elekit TU 8233 2a3 SET and 300b SET
Sun Valley 211 SET and 845 SET

[S Clark]

...
Here's a full list of all the amps I own currently.  Some people roll tubes.  I roll amps.  Haha, it's maybe a little out of hand....

First Watt Burning Amp 3 (BA3)
First Watt Aleph J
Don Sachs "baby-Kootenay" KT66 Push-Pull
Custom EL84 Push-Pull (based on ANK EL84 amp)
Dennis Had Inspire MB14 Single Ended Pentode Monoblocks
Almarro A318B 6C33C SET
TAL Korneff Type 45 SET
Elekit TU 8233 2a3 SET and 300b SET
Sun Valley 211 SET and 845 SET

Whenever I had an amp question I used to PM BigRedMachine... but you may be the new amp fanatic!  I've only got two modded Moscodes, three Dodds, and a Folsom.   Oops, and sort of a Dynaco 120 with better iron, caps, circuits, and KT120 tubes.   
   Maybe you're not such a fanatic after all. 

[Infidel]

Whenever I had an amp question I used to PM BigRedMachine... but you may be the new amp fanatic!  I've only got two modded Moscodes, three Dodds, and a Folsom.   Oops, and sort of a Dynaco 120 with better iron, caps, circuits, and KT120 tubes.   
   Maybe you're not such a fanatic after all.

I did some work on a Moscode 600. I'd like to get another one. I didn't have the caps we have now. Well, I need another amp like I need additional holes in my head.

Got my son's system dialed in. He's got an older DS2, but it has ODAMs with CuTF V-Caps bypassing them. The ODAMs I believe adds a slight flavor to the music. They are like Auri Caps throttled back in color, but unlike Auri Caps, they transmit details. They are weak in the highs, but the CuTFs take care of that. They may not add color, but it seems like it to me. They are like a good set of tubes, IMO.

[Infidel]

Actually, one of my power amps is a custom design that Don Sachs helped me with.  I wanted something like a Kootenay but with KT66's instead of KT88's.  It was a 1 off build, and I'm super happy I have it as I like the KT66's a lot more than the KT88's. 

Here's a full list of all the amps I own currently.  Some people roll tubes.  I roll amps.  Haha, it's maybe a little out of hand....

First Watt Burning Amp 3 (BA3)
First Watt Aleph J
Don Sachs "baby-Kootenay" KT66 Push-Pull
Custom EL84 Push-Pull (based on ANK EL84 amp)
Dennis Had Inspire MB14 Single Ended Pentode Monoblocks
Almarro A318B 6C33C SET
TAL Korneff Type 45 SET
Elekit TU 8233 2a3 SET and 300b SET
Sun Valley 211 SET and 845 SET

He helped me out with a KT88 amp, but I haven't powered it up.

[Infidel]

I listened to;

Vivaldi - 4 Seasons - Alessandrini & Concerto Italiano
Bach - Brandenburg Concertos - Cafe Zimmermann

I like Bach so much that I tried to buy it. I couldn't find a source digital download or CD for it. I know, all that's old fashioned, but I won't own nothing and be happy. Anyway, I have begun my journey. I am just using youtube.com for now, I love the commercial interruptions. Thanks for the recommendations. I did like Vivaldi, but I really liked Bach.

[FullRangeMan]

but I really liked Bach.
Try Switched on Bach>

[Tyson]

If you like Bach, I'd also recommend any/all of Angela Hewitt's recordings of his solo piano/keyboard music.

And Isabella Faust for his solo violin works.

[Infidel]

Well, I liked one of his works, will see about more
 I was trying to avoid the commitment, but I see Tidal in my future.

[simoon]

I am a huge classical fan, but the vast majority of classical music from earlier than about 1930, bores me. The "common practice" eras.

Most of the classical music I listen to is post WWII, up through the present era. And the vast majority of it is atonal, serial, dissonant, and overall "thorny" sounding. Not exactly easy listening. A bit of a challenge, actually

So, YMMV.

But here are a few recommendations, anyway:

Elliott Carter - Concerto for Orchestra (1969)
Elliott Carter - Three Occasions for Orchestra (1989)
Eilott Carter - Variations for Orchestra (1955)
Joan Tower - Concerto for Orchestra (1991)
Magnus Lindberg - Sculpture (2005)
Charles Wuorinen - 4th Piano Concerto (2005)
Unsuk Chin - Violin Concerto No. 1 (2001)
Alban Berg - Violin Concerto (1935)


Some 20th century pieces that sound a bit more 'traditional':

Bela Bartok - Music for strings, percussion, and celesta (1937)
Bela Bartok - Concerto for orchestra (1943)
Igor Stravinsky - Rite of Spring (1913)
Samuel Barber - Piano Concerto (1962)
Samuel Barber - Medea's Meditation and Dance of Vengeance (1955)
Benjamin Britton - 4 Sea Interludes (1945)

You might want to also join the TalkClassical.com forums.

[Infidel]

Classical music, or recordings you find objectionable. If I correctly understand you, it's the actual music. I'll give some of these a listen. An acquaintance sent me much 20th century material. I can't say that I was crazy about it. It just wasn't cohesive, but music is so personal. Some eat raw onions like apples, I don't. Nothing wrong with either. Thanks! I will check it out.