For fans of Harnoncourt's cycle, Berkshire is selling the 10-cd Teldec box that has the symphonies, the violin concerto (Kremer) and romances, overtures, Creatures of Prometheus (complete), and the Missa Solemnis, all for the great price of $40. What a deal! Attractively packaged, although I would have liked for detailed notes (but the notes are interesting). Switching to Toscanini, I finally bought the RCA cycle on CD--I had the complete set on LP and a few CDs of the cycle, and I have been meaning for years to get the full cycle on CD. Last month, RCA released a new box which appears to me, in some instances, to be a dramatic improvement on the prior sound quality. Even more than restorative work, apparently the folks at RCA dug into their vaults and found previously undiscovered first-generation masters. I bought my set for about $28 through Yahoo's music shopping site, speaking of great buys, and the box is 7 CDs and includes Missa Solemnis. I have what I would call "qualified admiration" for Toscanini's cycle, and I find myself listening to this new release with very fresh ears in light of the frequently substantial improvement in sound quality. While, for my ideal Beethoven symphony cycle, I would like to see more humor and gentleness than Toscanini provided in that set, the better sound quality, I think, will mitigate some of the common reaction concerning the harshness of the cycle. Finally (attention bargain shoppers), I just ordered the inexpensive 9 CD box that EMI released late last year of the Klemperer symphony cycle with the complete piano concertos with Barenboim. Very reasonable price for a great symphony cycle (about 50-55 bucks), with a decent concerto cycle thrown in (and it even includes a number of overtures). I had the symphonies on LP, but had never gotten the concerto cycle, so I'm very much looking forward to the set. I'd be interested in thoughts on the new Abbado and Barenboim cycles. I've been putting them off because I am trying to figure out whether I want to buy a DVD-Audio player (both sets come in a DVD-Audio version), and I've seen very good and very bad reviews of both sets. Any reactions? So many recordings, so little time. Can bankruptcy be far away? Drew Capuder