Hey Tom,
I found out from buying into these and older Mobile Fidelity’s… New pressed vinyls… The sound left me cold… Didn’t have the warmth or integrity of the intended sound we all grew up on… And how the engineers and producers wanted us to hear them…
Digital Masters used in new vinyls IMO strangle the sound at birth… They give a lifeless sound that is rather like a CD, flat in its presentation without natural warmth, timbre.. Wooden instruments don’t sound wooden, brass doesn’t sound like brass… piano, the hardest instrument to reproduce other than the full tonal range of the human voice, that doesn’t sound the same in digital…
The FANCY term applied as a Sales Gimmick…the Magic of REMASTERED…means Jack Shit in reality, when worked in the digital domain… from digital masters! Give me analog every time!
Have you noticed how the Music Industry has now begun to go Back to full Analog chain/recording again? The trend is beginning to happen with a number of new recordings specified by the artists or producers… They recognize the power of a better sound captured in the analog process…
For me, original 50s, 60s and 70s music is preferred on first or often better ED2 pressings and wax which was quieter by the mid 70s early 80s..
The MORE I buy and listen to the HOT STAMPERS, the more I value the work and dedication you guts provide! There is no ‘bullshit’ at work here! The concept you have is CLEARLY AND DEMONSTRABLY PROVEN to anyone with a pair of ears willing to listen!
Even better… you don’t even NEED a Top End $10-20,000 record deck/cartridge to FULLY appreciate it… a quality Hi-Fi set up will STILL give you that same difference!
Even with a Hot Stamper in a condition with a little surface noise, clicks etc… the Magical sound overpowers any minor age related faults of the disc to render a beguiling listening experience!
PRICELESS hearing favourite albums in a NEW and hugely better way with the Sound itself being the ONLY CONSIDERATION Compared to a Bog Standard pressing…
Often as you have seen in recent times, I have upgraded Fave albums with TOP 3 Star Best Hot STAMPERS you have when available… replacing cheaper ones I bought 7-8 years ago!
Even where I have MANY standard pressings of the same album…they REALLY DON’T COMPARE with even a 2 Star Hot Stamper… You’d need a whole load more to stand a chance of landing such a copy oneself! You take all the work out of that… all the risk. Hence the value of what WE your clients pay IS JUSTIFIED without a shadow of a doubt.. To hear Fave albums sounding like a Dream… much better than we ever had a right to expect from normal pressings – makes it all worthwhile. $30 or $60 wasted on a dull flat pressing, or more.. Is always going to remain a disappointment!
Spending $100, 200, 300 or 700 for a TOP Hot Stamper is worth it to get The Right Sound we all should have been treated too in the first place! To ALL who might dispute the VALUE…PAYING THESE HIGH amounts…I say… What would YOU PAY TODAY to go See a concert of Miles Davis, or Dire Straits, Pink Floyd….Frank Sintara??? One concert?!!!
The Rolling Stones today charge hundreds of dollars to see them in concert!! Barbra Streisand was ALWAYS more expensive to go to her concerts! Frank Sinatra… IF you could afford to, you’d NEVER have likely been able to get a ticket!!
So What Price a Top Sounding Hot Stamper? Worth their weight in Gold, these which you’ll play again and again and benefit from a FAR FROM STANDARD AUDIO PRESENTATION!!
For a Lifetime… To me, worth every penny!
Thanks for doing what you do…and doing it seemingly so well…you and the Team!
All the best,
Michael