There are so many excellent recordings of the late quartets. Many of the postings so far have keyed on older recordings. My current favorites are Tokyo, Italiano, Emerson, Vegh, Melos, Alban Berg, and the Lindsays. It's a minefield of riches; you'd nearly have to go out of your way to buy a poor set. As for the Budapest, I agree that their earlier mono recordings are much better than the stereo ones. Also, I am in relative agreement concerning the recordings already recommended by list members except for the LaSalle on DG. it has a "gritty" sound with performances that do not offset it at all. Don Satz [log in to unmask]