The Beatles. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Australian a/phile. AUDIO 5

	A$		1,625
	$		1,241

For auction today: The Beatles, limited-pressing Audiophile pressing.Catalogue number printed as AUDIO.5 on rear sleeve and AUDIO-5 on labels.
This copy has the elusive b&w number sticker affixed to the rear sleeve denoting that this is number 271 of 497 copies ever pressed. See photo.
Cover has a few little creases along spine on both sides as I have tried to show in photos. Otherwise, nothing to report. Lovely and super clean.

Disc looks like it's not been played or handled much, if at all. Can't fault it at all. Labels clean with no unwanted writting or other damage.Spindle hole on S2 looks like maybe side 1 was played once, under close inspection but even then, it's not for certain. Same method used that I will assume that S2 was never played.
Incl the 12" x 12" insert.....as shown

Graded: cover/disc = EX+/M-.
Here is an article that goes into some background information about this record:
Normal mastering is done in real time, meaning that the master tape moves at the same speed it did during the recording session and the lacquer spins at the standard 33? rpm. Half-speed mastering is when the master tape is played back at precisely half its recorded speed while the cutting lathe is similarly turned at precisely half the desired playback speed (ie 16? rpm).
When the mastering speed is halved, the power required for the cutting head is reduced by a factor of four. This reduces the load on the power amplifiers used and allows them to run in a completely linear fashion. If marketing is to be believed, the cutting stylus is able to trace the delicate groove undulations more accurately, with major improvements in frequency response, distortion and transient response. Crosstalk between channels is substantially reduced, control over groove dimensions is improved, and the ability to cut high energy passages without distortion is greatly increased. It’s for this reason that half-speed mastering is the choice for “audiophile” pressings.  In late 1980, EMI (Australia) decided to attempt half-speed mastering for a planned reissue series. In January 1981 they took their existing 15ips tapes of Please Please Me and Sgt Pepper’s, played at 7.5ips, and cut lacquers for each. Both sets were rejected due to quality concerns. EMI (Australia) subsequently abandoned work on Please Please Me and focussed on Sgt Pepper’s. New 30ips ¼” tapes were requested from EMI UK and were dutifully despatched on 22 October 1981.  
In April 1982—after numerous modifications to the Studer tape machine’s equaliser and Dolby A cards to accommodate half-speed use—the first serious cut was created, and while side 2 was deemed a success, side 1 was problematic. It wasn’t until the third recut, which took 8 hours to cut just 40 minutes of music, that an acceptable result was produced. This is known as the “-3” cut and it was this cut that was used to create the finished disc. Don Bartley recalled in August 2005:  
"The whole project was handled very well by EMI. I was given all the time that I needed to get it right and I seem to remember spending about 3 days on it. As it was a “half speed” transfer there were many test cuts done, two of which I still have and I have never played them since that time. I remember spending many hours setting up for the “secret” track in the lock groove at the end and somehow, I managed to get it exactly the same as the original Abbey Road “cut”. The tapes used were specially sent out from Abbey Road, they were not the originals but 1:1 direct copies of the originals. They were 30 ips, Dolby A and I remember feeling quite privileged and lucky the moment I started to play them. The amazing thing about this project was that I was allowed to EQ at my leisure and I must say that it was a challenge especially working at half speed. I do remember listening to the test cuts at the time and thinking how fantastic it sounded. Since then I have quite a few people comment on its quality, including Ed Kuepper [The Saints], who said it’s the best version he has ever heard."
The album was not distributed to record stores; it was instead sold to the public exclusively at the Sydney venue of the Australian Hi-Fi Audio Show on 3 July 1983 (along with three other titles in the Audiophile series). Just 497 numbered copies, housed in a single sleeve with “AUDIOPHILE” printed on the back and a new catalogue number of “AUDIO-5”, were released. Each LP had an individually-numbered sticker affixed to the top-right corner of the back cover. The contemporary Parlophone label was used, with the addition of the word “AUDIOPHILE” above the Parlophone logo.  This LP could be considered the Australian equivalent of the rare 1984 UK Nimbus Supercut release, produced in that country for Practical Hi-Fi magazine.

Copyright for this article belongs to Jaesen Jones.


I will do my best to answer any questions about this item and send more photos of item via email, if you request it.I cannot debit your credit card directly (no merchant facilities) but I accept all other forms of payment.Thanks