AUDIOPHILE RARITIES

Audiophile recordings, more than standard releases, are prone to falling out of print due to their relative rarity as a medium. In fact audiophile recordings are often printed in limited quantities, sometimes numbered to enhance that collectability. In addition, some companies, with good intentions, have fallen prey to market forces and fallen by the wayside. Esprit, a UK national company, is a good source to track down these rare or lost recordings. The world's biggest online record Shop for rare, collectable, used and hard to find CDs and vinyl, as well as limited editions, promos and so on, the company has a good selection of audiophile vinyl.Items range from £19.99 for current audiophile, 180gm Virgin pressing LPs right through to £1,500 top end rarities such as The Beatles 'Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'. Without doubt the rarest 'commercial' release of Sgt Pepper, this Australian only Audiophile LP pressing was Released in July 1983. EMI made just 497 copies available to the public before scrapping the entire project. Mike Cambridge, manager and buyer for Esprit commented that,"Our expansion into this area is just a natural progression with many of the older, rare audiophile and quadraphonic issues unavailable in any other pressings. We carry an ever increasing catalogue that grows bigger by the day."