James Taylor - Live at the Beacon Theatre DVD (DD 5.1 / Stereo) is one of my most recent additions to my DVD library that I feel is a gem reference disc at a bargan price ($14 at my local store, and I found it for $11 at a certain online store...). I've always enjoyed James Taylor's music, but I think even someone who just likes the occasional James Taylor song may fall in love with this disc. The sound is truly fantastic; it is very well recorded, and sounds amazing over a quality HT. I love how James's voice never sounds strained and makes singing seem so effortless. His guitar along with his co-performers' instruments at times sound like they are right in the room with you.
I've watched this disc on several systems, and each seems to highlight certain aspects of the recording. Without turning this into an equipment review, I'd like to comment on a few examples. While listening at my friends HT, James's solo guitar performances seemed slightly more alive and real. For example, at the beginning of the song "(I've Got To) Stop Thinkin' 'Bout That", listening with my eyes shut, the center channel (an Atlantic Technology 8200C) just transformed into James's acoustic guitar. It truly sounded like an acoustic guitar was there 10 feet in front of me, and experiences like that are what this audioholic lifestyle is all about! His theater room is laid out much deeper than mine with a higher ceiling too, so the sound is able to open up so much more with the added space. His equipment (in case anyone wants to know) is a McIntosh MX134 prepro w/ MC206 amp and McIntosh DVD player (don't know which one) powering an Atlantic Tech 8200 five channel speaker system. Back in my HT, I have a five channel Definitive Technology bipolar system (BP2000 mains, CLR 3000 center, and BPVX surrounds). The bipolar sound stage sounds more realistic overall to me (also I'm sure it's largely what I'm used to since this is my system...), but my system's sound could certainly benefit from being in a deeper room. Listening with the larger subs in the Definitive Tech system, the bass guitar riffs and drum beats found in several songs on this disc feel solid and powerful. For those looking for low frequency thrills, the newer and quite catchy song "Me & My Guitar" livens things up with its solid bass guitar groves & drum beats, but its bass guitar intro can be a little startling right at first as it follows the quiet "Fire and Rain". Of course I turned up the volume for the classic solo "Fire and Rain" (I was probably singing along, badly...), so when the whole band came back in for "Me and My Guitar", those intro bass licks were quite attention getting. The surround channels on the DVD are never very busy, containing the standard crowd applause between songs and mild sonic overtones if you will from the performers themselves.
The video contains good color and shadow details and looks wonderful on a big screen, but for me, the highlight to this DVD is the audio recording. Like I said above, I feel this DVD is a gem reference disc at a bargain price. If you decide to give it a try (either buying it or just renting it for a weekend listen), let me know how you like it. I hope you find it as enjoyable as I do.
Brad
Louisville, Kentucky
