Going against the grain here, but I truly feel that these Bychkov recordings are astonishing! The way that the Pentatone engineers have been able to capture all the inner voices, especially in the 5th, is almost scary. These recordings are total x-rays of the score. And, they do this with an entirely natural feel. I do think that the brass has been potted down in certain spots, climax of M5-2, places throughout the 2nd symphony, too. But, this seems to be a choice made by Bychkov and the engineers to attain the balances they were looking for. The brass choral in M2-5 sounds better than any other recording of it I own;so organ like, with very dark core sound.
Exton/Canyon do and have done a great job, and this isn't a knock on their work at all. I feel that Pentatone has taken it to another level in detail and truly natural sound. Many Exton recordings feel as if they have augmented the low end, and they sound like they are recorded at a higher level then these Pentatone, or even Channel Classics. This would lead to a 'richer' sound. The Payare Mahler 5 from Pentatone has a very different recording ideology and is richer in sound, while keeping the detail.
This is what I hear, in my room, with my speakers. A recording will sound different in each of our listening environments. Too many factors to control to get any sort of baseline for real discussion on things like sound quality.
As an aside, the recent Cleveland recording of Prokofiev 5 with FWM on their own, house label, is another spectacular recording. I've never heard low strings captured with this much power and precision. Not a big Prokofiev nut, but I really enjoyed this one.
