Quote:
Originally Posted by Wrymwood
Thanks for the info! It has the serial number SD 7201, but it isn't sealed. Either way it's my favorite Zeppelin album and a fantastic gift, so worth a lot of money, or not, I still love it.
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Excuse me for ignoring the serial number - I tend to collect UK original presses, so assumed that this was a US number, which I know little about.
I think that this is a Quiex SV-P audiophile re-issue. These were only released for a very short period of time on 200g vinyl - really heavy, amazing quality slabs. Collectors are paying something like £70 for these - more than twice their issue price, and sometimes much more, dependent on the album and condition. The store I linked to below is selling it for $150.
I compared a Quiex LZ II with my early UK press on a seriously good HiFi (not mine!), and it has to be said that the Quiex sounds fantastic.
Oddly, it seems to have been mastered slightly faster than the original, so a little of the bass is lost - but the crispness at the top end, the dynamic and the clarity is amazing.
This reminds me of Miles Davis' "Kind of Blue", which was recently discovered to have originally been issued at the wrong speed, hence the keys of the pieces were around a semitone lower, making it difficult for jazz fans to transcribe. It's also been re-issued, using a faster lathe cut to restore the sound to the original - maybe that's why the Zep album was remastered that way?
Being a bit of a purist, I still prefer my copy with added rumble in the two Johns (Paul Jones and Bonham, of course!), and the "warmer" overall sound - but the Quiex is still an amazing pressing, and you're lucky if
that is what you have!