RCA SORIA SERIES

The RCA Victor Soria Series was the ultra-premium classical and opera imprint established in 1958 by Dario Soria and his wife, Dorle Jarmel Soria. Known for its lavish cloth-bound slipcases, gold-leaf lettering, and museum-grade booklets printed in Europe, the series utilized LDS for stereo catalog prefixes instead of LSC like the standard Living Stereo series. In terms of the actual record pressing, there was no physical or sonic difference compared to standard Living Stereo releases. They were manufactured at RCA's primary plant in Indianapolis (identifiable by the stamped "I" in the deadwax). However, the record label differed and, depending on the pressing period, the layout changed regarding the inclusion of RCA’s mascot.

The Victor Company of Japan (JVC) handled the Japanese pressings of the Soria Series with extreme respect for its premium nature, maintaining its luxury status receiving the museum-grade European-printed art booklets used for the US releases. To cater to the local market without altering the original artwork, they added a supplementary black-and-white insert/booklet containing Japanese translations. Regarding the box, JVC always utilized the most luxurious slipcase version for the Japanese market. The Victor Company of Japan (JVC) never received metal parts from RCA; they always mastered the records in their own laboratories in Japan. A feature easily visible in side-by-side comparisons is the wider runout (dead wax) space on the Japanese pressings, which leaves less physical area for the recorded music. This area depends primarily on the cutting level (volume) and the bass frequencies. The cutting level itself is tied directly to the noise floor of the vinyl: with a noisier vinyl compound, you must cut the lacquer louder to maintain a good signal-to-noise ratio, which occupies more space on the record. Conversely, by using a quieter virgin vinyl, JVC could cut the lacquer at a lower volume level to achieve the same signal-to-noise ratio taking up less space. This technique allowed them to avoid cutting too close to the label, where the lower velocity degrades sound quality.

As shown in side-by-side visual comparisons, the US pressing on the left and the Japanese pressing on the right illustrate this packaging strategy perfectly.

Verdi Requiem Reiner VPO recorded by Decca ( Parry/Brown ) at Sofiensaal 1960