are highly sought-after, limited-edition audiophile vinyl pressingsproduced in the early 1980s by the British company Nimbus Records. They are renowned for their exceptional sound quality, which was achieved through a meticulous mastering and pressing process designed to remain as faithful as possible to the original master tapes.
Key Features and Process
Mastering from Original Tapes: Each release was mastered directly from the original master tapes, a practice not always followed by mainstream manufacturers who sometimes used secondary copies.
All-Valve Mastering Chain: The records were cut using an all-valve (vacuum tube) mastering process, which many audiophiles believe imparts a warmer, more natural sound than solid-state electronics.
No Limiting or Alterations: Nimbus avoided common practices like dynamic range compression (limiting) or altering the stereo image (e.g., centering the bass channels), allowing the full dynamic range and original channel separation of the recording to be preserved.
Pure Virgin Vinyl: Nimbus commissioned ICI (Imperial Chemical Industries) to produce an exceptionally pure, high-quality vinyl compound for these pressings, which resulted in a virtually noise-free surface and excellent frequency reproduction.
High-Precision Equipment: They used a Neumann VMS 80 lathe with a Neumann SX 74 cutter head and custom advance varigrove electronics, ensuring precise groove cutting.
Limited Availability: These records were not sold in general record stores but were available only via mail order to subscribers of British hi-fi magazines like Practical Hi-Fi and Hi-Fi Today. This limited distribution makes them rare collectibles today.
Identification: True Nimbus Supercuts can be identified by a gold sticker on the sleeve (though this can be lost) and, more reliably, by the machine stamping "NIMBUS ENGLAND" in the runout groove (dead wax) area of the disc.
The overall result was a pressing that delivered outstanding clarity, presence, and dynamic range, making them a benchmark for high-fidelity vinyl playback.
Condition
the sleeve has a thin tape mark on back cover, this is pictured and was caused by the resealable outer sleeve, sadly by the original owner!
the original owner played this LP twice, close inspection of the spindle hole shows almost no spindle wear, a single spindle trail on each side in fact!
the vinyl is mint, I only grade opened vinyl as NM.. no higher!
if you are and overseas buyer ( basically anyone out side of Canada or US) please contact me! Shipping this safely and cost effectively will be a challenge
probably the only time will see one of these, don't be shy to ask questions!!
