Jos Janssen wrote: >... As I said before amongst these ranks, I cannot think of any valid >reason (except maybe that you might think it looks highbrow in your CD >stand) to buy ANY complete edition just because it's complete. VALID REASON #1: MONEY Boxed sets are often discounted significantly when compared to buying music a single disc at a time. A 50% savings can more than make up for a clunker performance or three. If this is not a valid reason for you, please consider contributions to my Fund to Promote Full Priced Purchases. I promise that every penny will go towards the purchase of single performance full priced recordings. VALID REASON #2: TIME They are a convenient way to quickly obtain a given repertoire. You do not have any reason to expect to improve your results through strategic purchases without taking time to do research. This time is not always available and/or some may prefer to instead spend it listening. Sometimes I'll buy a complete set to gain initial exposure to some music for one or both of the above reasons before zeroing in on other recordings. VALID REASON #3: ARTISTIC PERSPECTIVE Many of us collect multiple recordings of the same music. For such collectors, it can be desirable to obtain a given artist's perspective on a corner of the repertoire. There you go, three valid reasons and I never even had to scratch my head. All offered in the spirit of public service.... Tim Dickinson