Month: August 2019

Traffic – Shoot Out At The Fantasy Factory

More Traffic

More Steve Winwood

Import versus domestic? You would be hard pressed to find better sound than on the best of these DOMESTIC pressings, and that includes Low Spark of High Heeled Boys!

We just finished a huge shootout for this album and didn’t find a copy that could hold a candle to this one in the huge stack we played. This may not be the best Traffic album ever, but on a copy that sounds this good it’s very enjoyable and certainly an impressive sonic spectacular. 

Side one earned an A+++ grade and side two was close behind at A++. The vocals sound just right and the percussion is full of energy, which really kicks up the excitement here. Check out how open, spacious and transparent the soundfield is, letting you appreciate everything that’s going on musically. (more…)

Sgt. Pepper’s – Our 4 Plus Shootout Winner from 2013

Hot Stampers of Sgt. Peppers in Stock Now

We are calling this White Hot Stamper 2-pack set THE ULTIMATE SGT. PEPPERS EXPERIENCE. These two sides give you EVERYTHING you could ask for from this album. Side one earned the rare Four Plus A++++ grade and side two was a killer A+++. The sound is so big and rich throughout that we would be very surprised, shocked even, if you’ve ever imagined that Sgt. Pepper could sound this powerful and REAL.

We no longer give Four Pluses out as a matter of policy, but that doesn’t mean we don’t come across records that deserve them from time to time.

We defy any original to step into the ring with a copy like this. One thing we can tell you: it would not be a fair fight. The cutting equipment to make a record this good did not exist in 1967.

The flipsides of each of the White Hot sides were pretty darn good, each rating A+ or better, but we’ve created this 2-pack set to give someone the kind of Sgt. Peppers that we dream of every time we start this shootout. Could we find a single copy with two sides this stunning? I wouldn’t bet on it!

Side One

A++++, absolutely As Good As It Gets! Huge and lively with the kind of jump-out-of-the-speakers presence we love around here, no other side one in our shootout came close to this one. The vocals are perfection. This is an amazing album, but when it sounds like this it goes to another level entirely.

Side Two

A+++, very nearly as good as side one but nothing short of killer in its own right. Fully extended in both directions, with an incredibly big, spacious soundfield. The bass and drums are Right On The Money, and the vocals are super present and breathy.

What to Listen For

Balance is key. The best copies of Pepper manage to combine Tubey Magical richness and fullness with transparency and clarity.

If you have multiple copies to compare, next on the list would be bass weight, top end extension, and of course the overall energy of the copy being played. You will have a very hard time finding two copies of Pepper that sound alike in all these areas.

The Greatest Rock Record Ever Made?

I have the original CD for Sgt. Pepper in my car (which is not very good by the way), and having played it dozens of times over the last few years I am more and more impressed by the music it contains with each play. A more original group of songs simply could not be found in 1967 (the world would have to wait until the White Album came out for an even more original batch), individually brilliant and unique. I never really appreciated this album back in the day, but repeated listenings has shown me the error of my ways. There’s a reason it regularly gets voted the greatest rock album of all time. (more…)

B.B. King – Friends

More B.B. King

More Electric Blues

  • A superb sounding copy of Friends with solid Double Plus (A++) sound from start to finish
  • One of the better sounding B.B. King records we’ve heard – it’s a treat to hear B.B. singing, playing guitar and backed by a horn section without the mediocre sonics that take all the fun out of listening to most copies
  • “… a gritty, soulful real stage performance where BB earns his living and forged his unique style… His voice was at its peak and this [recording] has captured his essence. It’s that good.”

(more…)

Striking It Rich Is a Tough One

Hot Stamper Pressings of Folk Rock Albums Available Now

We just did out first shootout for this album in more than five years. Our last one was 2019.

When albums are hard to find with good sound and audiophile quality surfaces, we often go five or more years between shootouts.

Our commentary from 2019 follows:

Normally this record sounds thick and dead. It’s very rare to find a copy like this that has any real transparency. The vocals are sweet and silky and the string instruments are more clear in the mix.

There’s nothing more frustrating than a record that defies every effort to hear into it, typically the feeling I get when listening to Dan Hicks’ recordings.

But on this pressing I could actually appreciate the music without having to fight the sound.

The tracks with violin accompaniment tend to sound the best for some reason. Some tracks are recorded a bit dry for my taste, but others are just right.

This is probably the band’s masterpiece, all things considered. It’s the most consistent album of theirs overall and has wonderful high points in I Scare Myself and Canned Music.

(more…)

Gilbert and Sullivan / Pirates of Penzance – Our Shootout Winner from 2009

EXCELLENT sound on EVERY side, which means it is truly a Demo Disc. On virtually every side it has the kind of rich, sweet Decca/London sound over which we audiophiles have been known to drool. It’s nothing short of AMAZING on the White Hot side — so lively, rich and HUGE. This is a Top London pressing in every way. 

And it just so happens that such superb sonics are found on a lowly budget reissue, the Jubilee London label, pressed in Holland no less! Thank goodness we don’t judge records either by their labels, their country of manufacture or their pressing era.

If we had — as virtually every record seller in the world does to this very day — we would never have discovered how good this music can sound.

Do the original pressings sound as good as this one? Not in our experience. We prefer the sound of vintage Golden Age All Tube recordings that have been mastered with the better transistor cutting equipment that became available in the late ’60s and early ’70s.

That’s what this is to a “T.” We found a batch of these box sets sealed, cracked them open, liked what we heard and decided to clean them up and give them a serious listen. We’re glad we did. Not only is the sound SUPERB in every respect, but the music is some of the best light opera ever written. Check out the rave reviews from back in the day, keeping in mind that this music has been performed without interruption for more than a hundred years.

The hall is HUGE: spacious and open as any you will hear, but not at the expense of richness or fullness. The orchestra is solid and full-bodied, yet the woodwinds and flutes soar above the other sections, so breathy and clear. How did the Decca engineers succeed so brilliantly where so many others have failed, failing right up until this very day?

Who knows? It’s still a mystery that has yet to be explained, to my satisfaction anyway.

(more…)

Letter of the Week – “I’m surprised you parted with this one”

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Tchaikovsky Available Now

Phil is a long time customer who shares my love for Richter and Karajan’s powerful and exceptionally well-recorded performance of Tchaikovsky’s 1st Piano Concerto.

He knows full well how bad most copies sound — he has a few of his own to prove it. When he saw this beauty in the mailer he did what any self-respecting record lover would do: he jumped on it. Even at $500 he feels he got his money’s worth, and that’s a lot of money for a Deutsche Grammophon record, the kind that no record store in the world would charge more than ten or twenty dollars for. If only we could find more like it…

Phil writes: 

You called it exactly right. The opening salvo by the orchestra gave me chills, and I knew I was hearing something extraordinary. In spite of tutti mayhem, the sound and performance is operatic and thrilling. I’m surprised you parted with this one.

Phil, years ago I used to say on the site that the best copies go in my collection, but that hasn’t been true for quite some time now. I have about ten records in my collection that I’m keeping for one reason or another, and everything else goes into the shootouts we do around here. (I may list my own collection on the site one of these days. You could type up the whole list in twenty minutes.)

Good records should be played, and when do I have time to play records for myself? We spin the damn things all day long. Monday through Friday, the VPI is booked. On the weekends I like a little peace and quiet; can you blame me? So better that you have an amazing record like that to play. I’ll just be content with the memory of the sound — until we do the next shootout of course. Then we’ll play it all day long and I’ll have a chance to really get back into again.

The performance on that record is really one for the ages. I hope we find a Hot Stamper that sounds as good as the one you bought. I don’t expect to, but it sure would be nice for someone else to have the chance to hear that recording at its best.

Spooky Tooth – The Last Puff

  • An outstanding Island Pink Label pressing of the band’s 1970 release, with solid Double Plus (A++) sound or close to it from first note to last – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • The reason this is a Must Own Spooky Tooth album is their sludge-metal cover of I Am the Walrus, guaranteed to blow your mind – it sure blows ours
  • Includes “Something to Say,” co-written by Joe Cocker and later featured on his 1972 album
  • 4 1/2 stars: “It’s a good, solid effort that includes a burning cover of the Beatles’ ‘I Am the Walrus.'”

This vintage Island Pink Label pressing has the kind of Tubey Magical Midrange that modern records rarely even BEGIN to reproduce. Folks, that sound is gone and it sure isn’t showing signs of coming back. If you love hearing INTO a recording, actually being able to “see” the performers, and feeling as if you are sitting in the studio with the band, this is the record for you. It’s what vintage all analog recordings are known for — this sound. (more…)

Mahler / Symphony No. 1 / Haitink – Reviewed in 2006

This IMMACULATE looking Philips Dutch Import LP is the best sounding version of this music I’ve ever heard and one of the all time great performances as well.

The Solti on 180g Decca is a good record. This is a great one. 

This is an Older Classical/Orchestral Review

Most of the older reviews you see are for records that did not go through the shootout process, the revolutionary approach to finding better sounding pressings we started developing in the early 2000s and have since turned into a veritable science.

We found the records you see in these older listings by cleaning and playing a pressing or two of the album, which we then described and priced based on how good the sound and surfaces were. (For out Hot Stamper listings, the Sonic Grades and Vinyl Playgrades are listed separately.)

We were often wrong back in those days, something we have no reason to hide. Audio equipment and record cleaning technologies have come a long way since those darker days, a subject we discuss here.

Currently, 99% (or more!) of the records we sell are cleaned, then auditioned under rigorously controlled conditions, up against a number of other pressings. We award them sonic grades, and then condition check them for surface noise.

As you may imagine, this approach requires a great deal of time, effort and skill, which is why we currently have a highly trained staff of about ten. No individual or business without the aid of such a committed group could possibly dig as deep into the sound of records as we have, and it is unlikely that anyone besides us could ever come along to do the kind of work we do.

The term “Hot Stampers” gets thrown around a lot these days, but to us it means only one thing: a record that has been through the shootout process and found to be of exceptionally high quality.

The result of our labor is the hundreds of titles seen here, every one of which is unique and guaranteed to be the best sounding copy of the album you have ever heard or you get your money back.

Tchaikovsky / Symphonies 4-5-6 – The Sound of Dubbed Tapes

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Tchaikovsky Available Now

Sonic Grade: C  

This is a Deutsche Grammophon 4 LP Box Set. I used to really like the sound of this set back in the day, as you will see from the rave review that I wrote in 2009.

It’s been a while since I found the sound to be worthy of a Hot Stamper shootout, and now, in 2017, having just played some of the discs against some very good German and British reissues, I now realize the records in the set are clearly made from dub tapes.

They badly lack presence, space, transparency and clarity, all hallmarks of sub-generation master tapes.  (more…)

A Space In Time – A Thrill on Big Speakers at Loud Levels

Hot Stamper Pressings of Psychedelic Rock Recordings Available Now

A Space in Time is just one of the recordings that made me pursue Big Stereo Systems driving Big Speakers right from my earliest days in audio. You need large dynamic drivers with plenty of piston area – the kind that can really move air – in order to bring the power of this music to life.  

If you have big speakers and a penchant for giving the old volume knob an extra click or two, it just doesn’t get any better than A Space in Time.

The Seventies – What a Decade!

Acoustic guitar reproduction is superb on the better copies of this record. The harmonic coherency, the richness, the body and the phenomenal amounts of Tubey Magic can be heard on every strum.

This is some of the best High-Production-Value rock music of the ’60s and ’70s. The amount of effort that went into the recording of this album is comparable to that expended by the engineers and producers of bands like Supertramp, The Who, Jethro Tull, Ambrosia, Pink Floyd and far too many others to list. It seems that no effort or cost was spared in making the home listening experience as compelling as the recording technology of the day permitted.

Big Production Tubey Magical British Psych Rock just doesn’t get much better than A Space in Time.