Roxy Music Avalon 1982 UK Press Polydor Super Deluxe EGHP 50 Play Tested NM

$

20

• Roxy Music.
• Avalon.
• First 1982 United Kingdom Pressing.
• Color Printed Inner Sleeve With Lyrics.

Item Details
Manufactured in: United Kingdom
Recorded: 1981, 1982 At Compass Point Studios (Nassau Bahamas) And Power Station (NYC, NY)
Mixed By: Bob Clearmountain
Mastered By: Bob Ludwig At Masterdisk, Peekskill, NY
Lacquer Cut By: Arun Chakraverty At Master Room, London, UK
Pressing By: Polygram Record Services, London, UK
Original Issue: May 28, 1982
This Issue: 1982 (based on sleeve design and matrix)
Label: Polydor Super Deluxe EGHP 50
Runout Deadwax Matrix Numbers:
Side 1: (stamp:) EGHP 50 A//1 ▽ 420 R (etch:) ARUN (stamp:) 11 351
Side 2: (stamp:) EGHP 50 B//3 ▽ 420 R 3 4 U

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 lifetime plays because I recorded my favorite tracks onto cassette mix tapes and CDs for most of my listening since originally bought. When the viny was played it was 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 brand) to prevent warpage.
All vinyl sides are cleaned on a VPI HW-16.5 record cleaner. I use the Audio Intelligent "One-Step" formula that requires no rinsing and leaves no residue. It is alcohol free and uses enzyme agents to remove pressing mold-release compounds, fungi & bacteria, finger oils, and many other environmental contaminants. Made with laboratory-grade pure water(50X purer than distilled water). I neutralize residual static charge from both vinyl and new inner sleeve with a Milty Zerostat. 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 take close-ups under photo lamps so you can see nearly everything I describe in the jacket grading. After cleaning I use very bright light and close visual inspection on each side to assign "visual-only" grades. However, I always perform play testing with thorough coverage on high resolution equipment to assign play grades.
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. I do not use "EX" grades as my VG+ is right below "NM-." I never sell a "G" play grade and very rarely ever sell a "VG" play grade. Please, refer to both my photo evidence and detailed descriptions to judge by YOUR OWN grading standards. Questions are always welcome. Play quality is personally most important to me so vinyl visual qualities are separately graded and described in detail for your complete assessment.

Outer Jacket Inspection/grading:
(Front Face/Rear Face)
NM/NM
Both front and rear faces are immaculate because I kept this album very well protected over many years as it was one of my most prized possessions. The only thing to nitpick about is a some top edge abrasion between the "Y" and the "R" plus some minor rub wear at the lower right front face corner. The jacket is in really beautiful shape.

Vinyl Visual Inspection/Grading:
(Side 1/Side 2)
NM/NM
Side 1 label does have a LAST protective vinyl wear prevention treatment sticker on it. I usually treated my new vinyl with LAST before the very first play. Both sides looked absolutely perfect.

Play Testing/Grading:
(Side 1/Side 2)
NM/NM
Extensive play testing was performed after visual inspection (continuous written notes were taken). I listen to the beginning, middle, and end of each track for a few minutes on each needle drop. When the track width is noticeably greater I take more play samples to get good coverage. I also listen to all lead-in, lead-out and transition grooves between each track. Some tracks get played all the way through if I digitize my favorites to 96k/24-bit WAV files for archiving. That allows 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
Sat flat on my platter (I do use a record clamp but warps can still show). Most tracks on the side were wider than normal so I took more play samples on each. T1 was cut very hot but sounded lush, beautiful, and effortless as I remembered. No vinyl noise on any sample. Transition grooves were very quiet too. T2 also had zero vinyl noise. T3 was recorded as it is the best of album. Free of vinyl noise and magnificent. T4 is a short track that segues right into T5 which had the best audio recording and mix of the whole side. Perfectly NM side.

Side 2 Play
Again, more samples taken per track based on width. The lead-in grooves were very quiet. T1 had impressive audio quality (wide separation, deep sound stage, and high clarity). No vinyl noise on any sample. The transition grooves had a single noticeable tick with a second one in the split second of T2 startup but totally free of any audible vinyl noise from that moment on. T3 had zero vinyl noise as did T4 which musically is a really great track with very fine audio performance. T5 is a very short track that had some pressing noise like very fast HF impulses at the threshold of audibility that did not distract from the music very much as they they were such low in volume and short in durations. This side was overall also NM.

A very classic album of great music served well by a superb Clearmountain mix, Ludwig mastering, and a very quiet Polygram pressing. I treated this album with great care and saved a lot of playing time on it by recording my favorites into "mix tapes" on cassette and CDRs for almost all my listening over many decades. Indistinguishable from brand new, I'm certain whoever gets it will be very pleased.

Packaging

• Records are placed outside the jacket to protect against seam splitting.
• Original inner sleeves (if still present) are included separately.
• All records will be placed into new MFSL-style "rice paper" plastic sleeves. Any original sleeves may be holding onto some dust and if paper lined could even be abrasive. This will keep vinyl surfaces clean and well protected during shipping and ultimately during 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 $4.75 per single album sale. eBay keeps raising the rates for Media Mail but I still don't pass all of that or any costs for shipping materials on to the buyer. I do try to reduce additional costs for my customers.
• A combined shipping discount is available on multiple sales completed on the same day ($4.75 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 with the discount applied to your total.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.