Month: March 2020

Reverse Your Polarity, My Wayward Son

kansalefto

This is one of the pressings we’ve discovered with Reversed Polarity.

About eight years ago (time flies!) we discovered that the first track on side one is in the wrong polarity, or out of absolute phase, whichever terminology you prefer (we ourselves use both). The full story can be found below.

Here’s what we wrote:

But last night (07/13/06) we made an AMAZING discovery. I was listening to another Sterling original, and the slightly aggressive, hi-fi-ish quality of the opening vocals made me think that maybe I had been putting up with a problem that I should have investigated further. What really sold me on the idea was listening to the vocals and noticing that the ambience was “disconnected” from the voices. It’s hard to explain exactly what that sound is, but it’s almost as if the ambience is added in on top of the voice instead of surrounding and resulting from the voice. I suspected reversed absolute phase.
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Myrow & Seagrave – Phantasm (OST)

  • A stunning sounding copy of this Varese Sarabande TAS list record with both sides earning Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades
  • These sides are clean, clear and dynamic yet still super rich and full-bodied with plenty of bottom end weight; exceptionally quiet vinyl too!
  • “The music by Fred Myrow and Malcolm Seagrave is properly eerie and involving.” – The Hollywood Reporter
  • “Their magnificent theme is an integral component of the worldwide success of Phantasm and its several acclaimed sequels.” – Liner Notes

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Letter of the Week – “I was stuck by the difference between what I was “accepting” in my non-hot-stampers and the sonics of a great hot stamper.”

More of the Music of Steve Miller

Reviews and Commentaries of the Music of Steve Miller

One of our good customers had this to say about some Hot Stampers he purchased recently:

Hey Tom,   

As you know, I only play vinyl on my system and have purchased hundreds of hot stampers over the years. I was going though my non-hot-stamper part of my collection and listened for about three days exclusively to non-hot-stampers. I was pleasantly surprised by some and was saying to myself that’s not too bad or that’s okay.

Then, Steve Miller – Brave New World (2.5/3) arrived. As it played, I was stuck by the difference between what I was “accepting” in my non-hot-stampers and the sonics of a great hot stamper. I went back to my non-hot-stampers and ejected 40 albums which are back to CD’s in my car. My non-hot stampers are now less than 10% of the collection.

Life is too short to listen to “acceptable” vinyl. Hot stampers, especially WHS or good vinyl, is why we have spent a lifetime pursuing great audio systems: to sit in our listening rooms and be transported by the emotion of the music.

Thank You
Mike

 

Woody Herman – Swing Low, Sweet Clarinet

  • A stunning Hot Stamper original stereo pressing of Woody Herman’s highly regarded 1962 Philips release, with Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound or close to it
  • The Tubey Magical richness of some of the better Philips pressings from this era have really taken us by surprise – these are some amazingly good recordings!
  • Exceptionally spacious and three-dimensional, as well as relaxed and full-bodied, this is by far the best sounding Woody Herman record we have ever run acrossl
  • “Sticking exclusively to clarinet, he shows himself to be a fine improviser and an expressive player who gives fresh interpretations to a variety of standards, some closely associated with Benny Goodman and Artie Shaw [whose good records we never seem to find]. …[an] out-of-print but worthy LP.”

For us audiophiles both the sound and the music here are wonderful. If you’re looking to demonstrate just how good a 1962 All Tube Analog Philips recording can sound, this killer copy will do the trick. (more…)

Time Out Is a Classic Case of Live and Learn

More of the Music of Dave Brubeck

Reviews and Commentaries for Time Out

Another example of We Was Wrong

When we did a shootout for this album way back in October of 2007, we took the opportunity to play the Classic Records 200 gram pressing. Maybe we got a bad one, who knows, but that record did not sound remotely as good as the real thing. (6 eye or 360, both can be quite good. Skip the Red Label ’70s reissues.)

The piano sounded thin and hard, which was quite unexpected given the fact that we used to consider the Classic LP one of their few winners and actually recommended it.

As we said in our shootout: “We dropped the needle on the Classic reissue to see how it stacked up against a serious pressing. Suffice it to say, the real Time Out magic isn’t going to be found on any heavy vinyl reissue!”

If I were in charge of the TAS Super Disc List, I would not have put this record on it.

Here are some others that we think do not qualify as Super Discs.

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Harry Belafonte – The Midnight Special

More Pop and Jazz Vocals

More Reviews and Commentaries for Male Vocal Albums

  • Belafonte’s 1962 release finally arrives on the site, with a Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) side two and an outstanding Double Plus (A++) side one
  • Lively, balanced and vibrant, with a healthy dose of the Tubey Magical richness these recordings need to sound right (and which is rarely evident on the modern reissues made from these kinds of recordings)
  • 4 1/2 stars: “Known to rock collectors as being the first album to feature Bob Dylan (he plays harmonica on the title track), The Midnight Special is also a record that best exemplifies Harry Belafonte’s uniqueness as a recording artist… Combining blues, big band, gospel, and soul, Belafonte utilizes mainly traditional material on one of his best programmed albums of the sixties.”
  • If you’re a fan of Harry’s, this vintage record from 1962 belongs in your collection.

The album that introduced Bob Dylan to the world, highlighting his harmonic skills on “Midnight Special.”

This vintage RCA Living Stereo pressing has the kind of Tubey Magical Midrange that modern records rarely begin to reproduce. Folks, that sound is gone and it sure isn’t showing any sign of coming back. (more…)

Sonny’s Story – Skip the OBC

More Classic Blues Albums

Some OJC (or OBC) Pressings Sound Good, Some Don’t – This One Doesn’t

The copy we auditioned did not impress us sonically, so don’t expect to see Hot Stampers of this title on OJC coming to the Better Records website any time soon.

The music might be wonderful — we unreservedly follow the maxim de gustibus non est disputandum — but the sound of this pressing is unlikely to be of audiophile quality.

There may be great sounding pressings of the album – how could we possibly know there aren’t without playing every version ever pressed? — but we’re pretty sure the OJC will always fall short of the mark.

We created two sections for the OJC label: one for the (potentially, it’s what Hot Stampers are all about) good sounding OJC pressings and one for the (probably, see the paragraph above) bad sounding ones.

If you know of a great sounding pressing of the album, feel free to let us in on what pressing you have and we might just pick one up and give it a listen.

We’ve auditioned countless pressings like this one in the 33 years we’ve been in business — buying, cleaning and playing them by the thousands. This is how we find the best sounding vinyl pressings ever made.

Not the ones that should sound the best. The ones that actually do sound the best.

If you’re an audiophile looking for top quality sound on vintage vinyl, we’d be happy to send you the Hot Stamper pressing guaranteed to beat anything and everything you’ve heard, especially if you have any pressing marketed as suitable for an audiophile. Those, with very few exceptions, are the worst.

And if we can’t beat whatever LP you own or have heard, you get your money back.  It’s as simple as that.

Tom Port

Better Records (more…)

Tom Jones – A-tom-ic Jones

  • Tom Jones’ sophomore release makes its Hot Stamper debut here with STUNNING Triple Plus (A+++) sound from start to finish
  • Punchy, dynamic, transparent, spacious and musical throughout – you won’t believe how big and bold the sound is on this Parrot original pressing
  • The over-the-top production for the theme song to Thunderball may be a bit much (although we love it for what it is), but the rest of the album is classic Tom Jones
  • This is what vintage ’60s analog is all about, that smooth, relaxed sound that never calls attention to itself and just lets the music flow
  • “From tender ballads sung in understated style like ‘Where Do You Belong’ to all out rockers like ‘This and That,’ Jones voice and charisma shine effortlessly…”

This vintage Parrot Label Stereo 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…)

Booker Ervin – The In Between

More Saxophone Jazz

More Recordings by Rudy Van Gelder

  • Booker Ervin makes his long-awaited site debut with this 1968 release, boasting a Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) side two and an outstanding Double Plus (A++) side one – exceptionally quiet vinyl too 
  • The sound here is wonderful – big, lively, textured, open and clear with Tubey Magical richness that brings out the best in this jazzy hard bop sound
  • Credit must go to Rudy Van Gelder once again for the huge space this superbly well-recorded quintet occupies
  • 4 stars: “Every song on The In Between is an Ervin original designed to challenge the musicians… it’s edgy, volatile hard bop that comes from the mind as much as the soul… The result is a satisfying, cerebral set of adventurous hard bop that finds Booker Ervin at a creative peak.

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Gino Vannelli / Storm At Sunup – Our Shootout Winner from 2011

More Gino Vannelli

This White Hot Stamper side one was CLEARLY the best sound we heard in our ENTIRE shootout. No other copy had any side that sounded as BIG and BOLD as this. It’s richer and fuller, and that’s a big deal on Storm at Sunup, which is almost always pure midrange — no bottom, no top, just midrange. Until we played this copy I wasn’t sure there was EVER going to be any bass or top end. Thank goodness this side one came along, otherwise we would have been tempted to junk the whole project. (more…)