Anyone here have an SACD-capable multichannel music system?

If so, you should know that RCA has begun re-releasing their classic "Living Stereo" recordings from the '50s and '60s in that format.

The Living Stereo catalog includes artists like Heifetz, Rubinstein, Reiner, Munch, Monteux, Van Cliburn, Fiedler, and Piatagorsky.

When these performances were originally taped, many of those were done in three-track (left, center, and right) format. Needless to say, all prior LP and CD releases were mixed-down to two-channel, although those who had a chance to hear the original tapes over a three-channel system raved about how much more realistic that presentation was. Now, for the first time, an average classical music lover with a decent home-theater setup and an SACD-compatible player can hear these performances the way they were captured.

I've picked up all twenty of the first releases, and am looking forward to the next series. They certainly are a "quantum leap" over the previous LP and CD versions I've owned. It really feels like you're in the presence of those great performers.

I realize this probably sounds like an RCA press release, but I have no connection with them except as a consumer...who is hoping that good sales figures will encourage them to continue with these releases.

(BTW, another classic early-days-of-stereo label, Mercury, is also releasing their "Living Presence" catalog on SACD. Although I don't find Mercury's performers, by and large, up to the level of those found on RCA, the Mercury discs are also highly recommended, especially the classic Dorati "Firebird.")