William Jenks wrote:

>Do any of you out there that have a number of these have opinions
>about the merits of the Kodalys or the various other options?

Many folks swear by the Kodalys on Naxos; I'm not one of them.  For
modern instruments, I'd recommend the Alban Berg(Teldec and EMI), Tatrai
on Hungaroton, and the Endellion on Virgin(2-cd set at low price).  If you
prefer period instruments, there are great recordings by the Salomon on
Hyperion, Festetics on Arcana, and Mosaiques on Astree.  If I had to choose
just one from each category, it would be the Tatrai and Mosaiques.  As for
the Kodalys, I consider them routine performances, but you can't beat the
price for whatever that's worth.

>Also, which of the quartets ought to be on my "must have" list?

Every single one of them beginning with Opus 17.  That's not helpful,
but it's how I feel about Haydn's string quartets.  If picking and
choosing is preferred, I'd start with Opus 20 and 76.

Don