During one summer, every night, before going to sleep, I listened to the entire symphony, on vinyl. I have all these memories of watching the thin white, curtains wafting in the summer breeze, lit by a streetlight streaming through the leaves of the red oak outside my window, with this piece playing. Great moments.
I had the record on vinyl as well(I now have the cd) and listened to it much the same way you did! I was a budding audiophile and had a pair of back speakers(pioneer book shelf) hooked in via the hafler circuit scheme and the surround elements of the recording were unlocked making my Realistic system sound like all the rich guys’ sound systems!
I loved my realistic sta2200 and my optimus 10s....that receiver was the most configurable receiver in its class that I have ever come across...at least until all the new digital stuff came out. It had solid metal clips that you could pull out so that the pre amp could be routed thru an equalizer or a mixer and the amps could be run separately. It was the dawn of the digital era and this set up lasted for me until the early 90’s! The Shostakovich was part of that journey!