K, Sara: Play on Words.

K, Sara: Play on Words. Recorded in 1993, at Mastersound Studios, Queens, New York; remastered to surround in 2004. Engineers: Bob Katz, Nicholas Prout, and Barry Wolifson. 46+ minutes. Chesky SACD 278.

This is another SACD release that features a phantom center in lieu of one that is discrete. Fortunately, the engineers did a fine job of maintaining a tight phantom image, although much of the success involves the nicely towed-in Dunlavy Cantatas in my middle system. Generally, if the original material was not recorded with surround sound in mind, the remastering engineer is faced with synthesizing the surround ambiance or surround effects. This can work OK, but trying to lay things on too thick results in problems. Consequently, here the engineers wisely delivered a subdued surround mix, which heightens the sense of intimacy they obviously wanted with this material. No big-room reverb here.

Ironically, when listening to the two-channel PCM tracks on my main system in another part of the house, the Yamaha RX-Z1 receiver's ability to deliver Dolby Pro Logic II decoding with the two-channel PCM tracks resulted in the best sound of all. Partial credit for this goes to the somewhat superior listening room, as well as to that system's fine center-channel speaker, which capitalized on the ability of DPL II to derive a simulated discrete center from the recorded phantom center. My take on this is that with DPL II processing the earlier CD release of this material should be as satisfying as the SACD version.