David Harbin wrote:

>Dear All, I have long been wanting to hear Beethoven's late string quartets
>and finally bought a 2 CD set from a slae bin (Budapest String Quartet, rec
>1940 & 1942 on Sony Masterworks Heritage Mono).
>
>I have quickly become hooked on this music.  The penultimate quartet is
>my favourite, especially the glowing slow movement and energetic finale.
>
>However, can I ask if there is a better version I should be listening to?

You stumbled upon the good Budapest series, the 1940s mono one.  It's
commonly considered to be far and away superior to the later stereo Library
of Congress performances.  In fact, the well respected music critic, B.H.
Haggin, who admittedly was occasionally eccentric and always outspoken in
his opinions, but who was a fan of the Budapest String Quartet, described
the later, stereo, performances, contrasted with the earlier ones which you
obtained, as having undergone a "deterioration in tone and intonation and
even in the treatment of the music [that] reached the point where the
playing was not only musically unsatisfying but unpleasant to listen to."

Walter Meyer