The Beatles Collection Stereo Vinyl BC13 Bluebox - Unboxing and Review

[@arminzink1925]

Thanks a lot for this great and comprehensive video. The BC13 is really a beautiful box set for every Beatles fan. And in my opinion it is the easiest way to get all the Beatles albums as analog pressings in most a decent shape for a good price. I bought my German 1978 BC13 in 2022 when I returned to vinyl. Condition was a little bit better than yours (true VG+ I guess). Most of the German records sound very very good, but With the Beatles and A Hard Days Night and also Abbey Road have very low bass and no depth at all. So these records sound quite lifeless. I also bought a 1985 UK set which is more consistent in sound quality. Condition was VG to VG+, but some of the LPs in the middle showed some ring wear because the UK box is much tighter as the German one. In the German one I can easily add the Magical Mystery Tour album, which is not possible in the UK one. But to protect the discs and the boxes I store all discs outside the boxes. The UK discs are surprisingly thin. The 1978 version has thicker vinyl, but nevertheless the UK set sounds very good. To remove the surface noise, you should clean your records wet with a self made liquid (use 3 pieces of distilled water, 1 piece of isopropyl alcohol and 1 drop of dish washing liquid), spray it on the disc (but protect the label!) and distribute it with a goats hair brush. The wait 2 to 3 minutes an wipe it dry with a soft mircofiber cloth. I have made good experiences with that. Looking forward for your next videos. BR from Munich!

[@BurgundySkies]

THANK YOU very much for watching and for sharing your experience. I find that in this quest of getting Beatles records (but not only) in various versions and formats, the most help comes from other people's honest experiences. Anyway, I guess the variation in quality and quantity of vinyl used will vary but I must say that so far (with my very very limited experience) the thickness and weight of the discs did not play a siginifcant role in the sound. In fact I have the UK version of the Beatles Box from Liverpool, those discs are as thin as they come, but still sound amazing. A little thinner on the base side as well but... fixable through eq. About the box: yeah, I was also hoping to be able to squeeze one more LP in there myself but there are 0 chances that will happen. This Dutch one is pretty but also very tight. I will consider storing them outside as well, as that will allow me to use outer plastic sleeves to protect the covers. On the other hand... I do like the feeling of opening it and taking them out, although it seems the kind of box that tends to wear quickly. On the other hand it is somewhat re-assuring to see others also had this issue with the inconsistency of the pressings. Especially for Germany which seems to have been the source of some of the best Beatles pressings ever. I will end up replacing a couple of them probably, but unfortunately chances of me getting another box are pretty much nil. Anyway, enjoy yours and thank you for the cleaning tips.

[@tonyfox7510]

German copies of the Beatles sound mostly excellent i agree but it makes me wonder why the With the Beatles and Hard Days Night sound so lacklustre. Were they using inferior copies of the master tapes?

[@BurgundySkies]

Sometimes that was the issue, or using copies of copies, but other times the people working on the pressing matrix might have intervened on the material. Otherwise I guess the initial matrix itself might have had technical issues too.

[@jonathanergueta]

I enjoy your vid… after watching that UTube video by Parlogram had a chance to get the Dutch set on eBay but it was used & pricey…so instead I got a UK BC 13 in mint condition for $700.

[@BurgundySkies]

Thank you. Well, I mean UK and Mint... can't go wrong. I guess the extra cash made sense for certain win. How much was the Dutch one?

[@laszlomolnar298]

It is a nice set. I have the 80’s UK box, it’s almost mint, records, jackets, all insert and the box. The only eyesore is Let It Be. The label on side B is off center and bubbled up. Oh well… Enjoy!

[@BurgundySkies]

Wow! UK box, that should be top sound. I guess Let it Be would be easy to replace if needed. You enjoy yours as well, I sure would if I had it 😁😁😁

[@MrSailorsam]

This is the best set for true analog sound since trying to find original UK first pressings in very good condition can get quite expensive, love my BC13 box.

[@BurgundySkies]

Indeed. Enjoy your set!

[@chrissnyder7181]

Hope you enjoy the box set. I think the sellers should atheist clean or wipe down the records. But I have received many dirty records purchased on ebay...😊

[@BurgundySkies]

Thank you. And you know... some level of dust is acceptable, these are (after all) dust and lint magnets, but my stylus gathering a ball of it from the grooves... I mean... that was not cool. And yeah... unfortunately buying old records almost guarantees you will have that risk.

[@ianz9916]

I prefer it if the sellers don't clean the discs as you never know what method they are using and may make it worse.

[@chrissnyder7181]

@@ianz9916 I never thought of that. Good point

[@BurgundySkies]

Never occured to me, but hearing what some of them use... you may have a point there.

[@elizanechifor5410]

This is great!!! I like your style!

[@BurgundySkies]

Thank you so much!! 🥰🥰🥰

[@andy57167]

nice set , tho i would be tempted tp flip it for a near mint set ,,,i have owned many sets and most were near mint to unplayed they are not hard to find,,for some reason most people who owned these sets hardly played them . also I will say without doubt the Swedish /German import set ( seek out Germany 1981 import) walks all over the Dutch set it is even better than the uk ,,, all the cuts in the swedish set are from original to second pressings of the uk albums..the 78 uk set is severall pressings beyond the swedish set..the swedish team curated what they felt were the best pressings available to them and every album sounds incredable ,,,,parogram is wrong about the white album ,,its from a highly regarded mid 70's german pressing ,,the couple non uk albums are from great german pressings ... this is the one set that didnt use off the shelf or pressings of the time of release ,,,these are fantastic sounding first and second pressings ,or in a couple cases a rare elusive pressing...it is a truely stand out from all the blue box sets ,,they really put extra effort into securing some of the best pressing of every album available...get one before the mainstream figues it out,,you will not be dissapointed,,,plus you get the cool german covers!

[@BurgundySkies]

Thank you. Yeah, after doing more and more research, I agree with you completely. However it was also a price issue for me as I am sure is for many. Plus you know... when you buy online remotely... you're kinda locked on trusting the seller. And in this case, supposedly this was supposed to be vg++++++++. Well... PS: I did get some of the German ones in the meantime btw: Please Please Me and MMT of course, but also Help and The White Album. Mostly esquisite.

[@mikejeffries8630]

If your White Album is Dutch on all 4 sides, you have a great sounding pressing.

[@BurgundySkies]

Uffff, it is not here anymore as it will become apparent soon. I have to say though, as much as I listened to it, it was pretty nice. I will dig the matrixes, I know I had written them down at the time. As I (vaguely) recall... I think I had a mix, where 3 sides were from a version and 1 side from another. But not 100% sure, will double check.

[@BurgundySkies]

So these apparently were the matrixes I had for The White Album: Matrix / Runout (LP09 Side A (etched)): YEX 709 //36405-1-Y 08-21652-1A-1 ⦸ A E Matrix / Runout (LP09 Side B (stamped)): YEX 710 138-04 173-B--36408-4Y Matrix / Runout (LP09 Side C): 04 174 A-1 (stamped) U (etched) Matrix / Runout (LP09 Side D (stamped)): YEX-712//43028-1Y B 08_21653_1B_1

[@tonyfox7510]

I don’t understand how Dutch pressings would be better sounding than the British. I have a couple of Dutch Beatles pressings and find their vinyl noisier than British vinyl. Besides the British have original masters and send copies to other countries to press so is Parlogram implying that they sent a superior sounding master to Holland.

[@BurgundySkies]

I wondered that myself for a while and I think I saw some similar points on the Steve Hoffman forums as well. But then I understood that the answer to that dilemma is two-fold: actually Parlogram never said they were better than UK, in fact Andrew there is constantly mentioning that most best or just closest to best pressings are UK ones. In that video where the Dutch set came on top, there was NO comparisson with the UK one. At all. He was actually comparing with 3 german sets (one of which was digitally remastered), one french and one swedish or smth. So technically he never said the dutch one is the best or better than the UK, but only in THAT one video that it sounded the best out of those 6. The second point is (and I made that clear enough I hope) is that short after that video, the Dutch set from the video was put on sale on the website. The video was then used for reference thus consolidating the estimated value for the set itself. So far nothing wrong in my eyes, as it never said it was better than the UK, it only said it came out on top vs those german, french, swedish sets. However after that, few weeks and then months later, they subsequently put up for sale 3 more dutch sets. On all of them they referenced the same video. But also each of those three subsequent sets were different from the 1st one (the one in the video), and different from each other (both in estimated year of release as well as actual pressings).

[@andy57167]

one issue with the Dutch sets is they contained random mixtures of LP's and cuttings so you woud have to really find out the details of what a particular box contains , some have very good pressings possible but than some sets have some dull lps as well. the same can be said for uk boxs ,,depending on the version it will often contain a mixture of pressings i still stand by the 81 swedish/german set ,,it is a masterpiece and each set contains the same albums ,,no off the shelf mixtures...but what matters is if a person is happy with the music it can become a never ending task to find the best of everything and expensive , better to find satisfying records and not worry if its the best ,,or is acceptable by the snobs i like to find and pass on what i feel are the hidden gems before the collectors drive the prices up a a

[@camillabahiense9408]

I have a brazilian verson

[@BurgundySkies]

Hello. And how is that sound-wise. When looking for affordable pressings I often run into Mexican or Brazilian pressings, and I am always unsure of how they sound, as well as being a bit deterred by the distance.