Pet Shop Boys Community

OK, looking for the opinion of serious audiophiles here. I own a number of the David Bowie Ryko reissues and whilst most of them are ace, I really enjoy Young Americans in particular; it sounds absolutely fantastic on my moderately high end home system.
Here's the thing though, Bowie had his entire catalog re-remastered going 1999 forward because he didn't feel that there was enough bass in many of the tracks, incorrect mixes were used on some bonus tracks, etc.
I've read-up on this issue quite a bit and have found a number of many conflicting views. Many audiophiles consider most of the Ryko issues to be the definitive masters and that the new remasters offer no improvement whatsoever and offer less in terms of bonus material (with a few exceptions such as the recent "David Live" and "Stage" Visconti remasters). Whilst others consider the new 24 bit remasters a slight improvement.
So here is my question for fellow Bowie fans on the board: is it worth spending the extra cash to finish off my Bowie Ryko collection (which are now in many cases collector's items commanding premium prices) or are the new masters a true improvement; or perhaps even worse than the Ryko issues? I must admit that while I'm thrilled with my Ryko Bowie discs, I am curious to buy a few of the new masters (such as Young Americans) and compare them A/B. There truly seems to be no consensus on this issue amongst the Bowie fan community.
Yes, I am anal retentive.

I faced the exact same quandry last year. I've ended up with a mix of Ryko, new remasters and special editions;

1. Space Oddity - Ryko - great bonus tracks and packaging, and I prefer the Ziggy era cover as this was the version I first got to know in the 80s.

2. Man Who Sold - Ryko

3. Hunky Dory - Ryko

4. Ziggy Stardust Anniversary Edition - yes some tracks appear as bonuses elsewhere but this is a lovely package and worth seeking out.

5. Aladdin Sane - I got a wierd Taiwan edition on eBay which may be unofficial but has the content of the Anniversary Edition.

6. Ziggy Stardust The Motion Picture - most recent version with quality booklet etc

7. Pin Ups - Ryko

8. Diamond Dogs Anniversary Edition - a must buy!

9. David Live - most recent version

10. Young Americans - I have the Ryko and an Australian CD/DVD set - you need both to get all the bonus tracks! Fab album.

11. Stationtostation - Ryko of course! The live version of "Stay" is really something!

12. Low - Ryko

13. Heroes - Ryko

14. Stage - most recent version

15. Lodger - Ryko

16. Scary Monsters - Ryko

17. Let's Dance - original Japanese EMI cd from 1983/84? Sounds amazing and has no barcode.

I also got the Best of Bowie 2CD which includes many single versions you don't get on the album CDs.

That's where I'm up to so far

The audiophiles at the Steve Hoffman forums swear by the original RCA CDs. I'm told that the Ryko ones have the "bass cloud" EQ'd down, and the current EMI ones are harsh and dynamically crushed.

Bruno Republic wrote:The audiophiles at the Steve Hoffman forums swear by the original RCA CDs. I'm told that the Ryko ones have the "bass cloud" EQ'd down, and the current EMI ones are harsh and dynamically crushed.

I found a copy of the Ziggy Stardust album on RCA in my local library and borrowed it to compare to my 30th Anniversary CD, and apart from not being as loud, the RCA disc was damn good. I'm probably going to get the RCA "ChangesOneBowie" and "ChangesTwoBowie" compilations for nostalgic reasons.