In this weekly series of articles you will discover what are the business insider’s favorite albums and tracks. We have contacted a broad selection of industry experts and each Wednesday you can discover one of those guy’s favorite albums and why this is so. Check out our previous “Favorite album of” articles here: https://www.headfonia.com/category/fav-album-of/
This week’s honor goes to Heinz Lichtenegger. We have reviewed their great products (Box Design included) several times on Headfonia already:
Pro-Ject/Box Design Pre Box RS Digital: https://www.headfonia.com/review-pro-ject-pre-box-rs-digital-chameleon/
Pro-Ject Essential II Digital: https://www.headfonia.com/review-pro-ject-audio-systems-the-essential-ii-digital-a-beginners-story/
Who am I:
I’m Heinz Lichtenegger, I’m the CEO and founder of Pro-Ject Audio Systems.
The Band :
That is a very tough question, it is hard for me to pick one, because in the last year I was fortunate enough to visit many classical concerts and operas. I do have many favourites, but if I’d have to pick one artist it would be Pink Floyd.
The Album:
My choice would be their absolute classic, Dark Side Of The Moon. I have many different pressings and versions of this album. I only play it once a year, but then it’s a celebration. I check the entire system before I play the album to make sure it will sound as magnificent as possible. When I listen to it, nobody is allowed to disturb me.
The Dark Side of the Moon is the eighth album by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on 1 March 1973 by Harvest Records. The album built on ideas explored in earlier recordings and live shows, but lacks the extended instrumental excursions following the departure of founding member and principal contributor, Syd Barrett, in 1968 that characterised their earlier work. It thematically explores conflict, greed, the passage of time, and mental illness, the latter partly inspired by Barrett’s deteriorating mental state.
The album was an immediate commercial and critical success; it topped the Billboard Top LPs & Tapes chart for a week and remained in the chart for 741 weeks from 1973 to 1988. With an estimated 45 million copies sold, it is Pink Floyd’s most commercially successful album and one of the best-selling worldwide. It has been remastered and re-released twice, and covered in its entirety by several other acts. It produced two singles, “Money” and “Us and Them”, and is the band’s most popular album among fans and critics, being ranked as one of the greatest albums of all time. (Wikipedia)
The Song
Picking just one track of this album is impossible to me. It is a work of art in its entirety. EDITORS NOTE: While I fully agree with Heinz, my personal favourite is Money.
Why this choice?
The more I listen to other music the more I appreciate the Dark Side as the masterpiece it is. It combines many different genres, like Pop, Rock, Jazz, even Symphonic. It’s incredible! Of course perfect sound quality is very important to me, in the end I’m not only a music lover, I’m also an audiophile.
Listening preference
Although I have a high end headphone system at home (STAX SR009) I prefer to listen to it on a traditional two-channel system, because you are only able to feel the entire sound of it with your body when you sit in front of a proper speaker setup. A certain stereo setup delivers such a superlative three-dimensional soundstage. Also a multi-channel system is not an option for me, because any added product to the chain also is a possible factor of digital distortion, which on such reference pieces makes it sound unnatural and not smooth enough. Of course I listen to analogue only. My favourite version of the Dark Side Of The Moon is the MFSL UHQR edition, it delivers the maximum of sound!
My system:
Pro-Ject Signature 12 with Ortofon MC A 95 (although I use about 10 different cartridges) – Pro-Ject Phono Box RS (powered by Amp Box RS Phono) – Audio Research Reference 10 Preamplifier- D’Agostino Momentum 400 Monoblocks – Triangle Grand Concerto – PS Audio PS 10 AC Power Generator (not on the amplifiers). The entire system is cabled with Audioquest WEL Signature cables
I have three systems like this at home, but this one is my favourite.
Discover
If you want to check out Heinz’s favorite album, you can do so here:
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEgNndDtQqY&list=PLpdFIMvx5mshF4jWxpI1Wo-uqcHu_OS_k
TIDAL: tidal.com/album/7909690
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/6uGYCZLXw3wPFOSYcqLz9F
Qobuz: http://player.qobuz.com/#!/album/5099908217059
Enjoy!
Thank you Heinz for being on the series and for giving us a little insight in what you like to listen to. If you have suggestions of who we should feature in this article series, let us know in the comments!
Up to next week…
