The Beach Boys – Pet Sounds

My copy doesn't have a "1" following the "A" and includes a scratched-out "2MS 2083". Lightweight, flexible vinyl.

Limited copies are still available at Acoustic Sounds as of May 2 2025

Buy now or cry later.

I think the MFSL SACD beats the stereo mixes on this by a small margin (they're very similar,) while the DCC mono CD beats the mono mixes by quite a large margin.

Marantz SA8005
Yamaha AS-501

Truly masterful. I got mine from Acoustic Sounds which at this time, says they have limited stock of this title. If you don’t have it already, buy it. You won’t regret it.

One of the GOATs, and I don't just mean the ones on the cover

this version sounds and looks great! the stereo mix is really pleasant and the bass sounds really good

found this version for about 30 canadian dollars at my local store and it's an absolute steal, you should consider grabbing it if you find it in the wild!

This pressing is perfect, I really can’t think of one aspect I could criticize, just wonderful. Vinyl is dead quiet and 100%. This such a treat to have this amazing music in this quality on vinyl.

the album itself is absolutely phenomenal. unfortunately, my copy is slightly warped, and it skips several times during both "that's not me" and "don't talk (put your head on my shoulder.)" really disappointing, but it's always hit-or-miss with that stuff.

If you buy a new copy of this album in stereo in 2025, this is probably the version you'll receive. It's not actually a bad cut - the vinyl has no discernable background noise, there's no distortion or sibilance, and it tracks perfectly to the end of each side. The sleeve looks decent, especially the front cover photo, and it comes with a poly-lined inner. It's an enjoyable listen, and I'd happily have kept it had both copies I tried not been quite badly dished. As there were no unaffected copies in the shop, I thought I might as well splash out a bit more for the Analogue Productions.

The sound of the two records is strikingly different - one reason I didn't go for the AP initially is I figured they were both cut from the same 90s digital mix, so how different could they be? But whatever it is, I guess the extra tape transfer stage and the final mastering, the AP offers a much more coherent stereo field. The Takt press has the various tracks sounding somewhat isolated - an example being the percussion in the left channel of Wouldn't It Be Nice, which really sticks out in the Takt cut. It's still panned left in the AP master, of course, but it's much more integral to the sound and no longer sounds like it's out on its own. If anything, the AP is a little less flashy with the stereo field, and instead sounds warm and enveloping. Sidenote but the pictures on the back are less cropped on the AP which suggests a little more care has been taken over the reproduction of the original sleeve, too.

So in conclusion, if you have the opportunity to get the AP for a decent price, it's worth it, but the Takt pressing is still a nice record.

I bought this without reading these reviews first and was preparing for the worst.
However, colour me surprised.
Lots of life in this record, surprising amount of detail and I’m not hearing the ‘blanket’ over everything at all, I’m sure the AP is great but the well documented history of the quality of the recording surely means it can only be so good and not sonically perfect.
I was preparing to return this based on all the other comments, but this is staying please do buy with confidence.