Month: November 2020

Vivaldi / Bach / Guitar Concertos / Yepes / Alonso

More of the Music of Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)

  • This wonderful classical guitar recording makes its Hot Stamper debut here with Shootout Winning Triple plus (A+++) sound or close to it – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • The sound here is glorious, brimming with the wonderful qualities that make listening to classical music in analog so involving
  • The orchestra sounds rich and sweet, yet the guitar is clear, present and appropriately placed relative to the surrounding ensemble
  • As is to be expected from the Decca engineers in 1959, the sound is so relaxed and correct that you immediately find yourself simply enjoying the performances of these two well-known pieces, which is entirely the point, although we sometimes forget the purpose of all our audiophile rigmarole

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Rodrigo – Boieldieu / Harp Concertos – Reviewed in 2011

This White Hot Stamper pressing of DG’s recording of Rodrigo’s famous concerto for harp has amazing DEMO DISC SOUND, but only on side two. The harp is clear, with no smear whatsoever, but what’s really shocking is how huge the soundstage is, and how much depth it has. While playing this side the speakers just disappeared and a huge concert hall appeared in their place! The harmonics of the harp are rendered superbly well. It’s hard to imagine one could record a harp concerto better than this. It is superb in every way.

Heavy Vinyl

About ten years ago a Heavy Vinyl version of this album was remastered and pressed by Speakers Corner, part of their disastrous foray into the DG catalog. This title was decent, the Beethoven Violin Concerto was okay, as was one of the Tchaikovsky Symphonies with Mravinsky (#5), but the rest were just plain awful, with disgracefully bad sound.

Funny, I don’t recall reading any bad reviews of these albums at the time. Oh, that’s right, these Heavy Vinyl records never get bad reviews, no matter how lifeless, opaque and shrill they might sound. Except from us of course. We were writing about them back in the day and trying to sell just the better ones.

We have since given up in that effort as so few are really very good when you get right down to it. (more…)

Wes Montgomery – In The Wee Small Hours (aka Fusion! Wes Montgomery with Strings)

More Wes Montgomery

More Jazz Recordings Featuring the Guitar

  • Montgomery’s wonderful 1963 release finally makes its Hot Stamper debut here with Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound or close to it throughout
  • Exceptionally spacious and three-dimensional, as well as relaxed and full-bodied, this reissue pressing had better sound than any original
  • As you can imagine, harmonically rich, clear, clean strings (or the lack of them) separated the winners from the losers pretty quickly
  • 4 stars: “As with his later albums, Montgomery’s guitar solos here are brief and melodic but the jazz content is fairly high even if the emphasis is (with the exception of “Tune Up”) on ballads.”

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Rodrigo and Falla – Concerto for Guitar and Orchestra / Argenta

TAS List Records Available Now

  • The sound here is glorious, full of all of the qualities that make listening to classical music in analog so involving
  • The presentation is shockingly three-dimensional, with an exceptionally wide and deep stage
  • The sound of the orchestra is as rich and sweet as would be expected from the Decca engineers, yet the guitar is clear, present and appropriately placed relative to the ensemble around it
  • Managing to balance, so effortlessly it seems, these two dissimilar elements, in 1959 no less, requires an enormous amount of skill and effort
  • Fifty-odd years later, those of us with good turntables are profoundly thankful for their achievement, with respect to both performance and sound

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Frank Sinatra – Come Swing With Me!

More Frank Sinatra

  • This outstanding Capitol stereo pressing boasts incredible Triple Plus (A+++) sound or close to it on both sides
  • On this superb pressing you’ll hear Billy May’s arrangements – just brass, no strings or winds – blasting behind Sinatra like never before
  • This was Sinatra’s final swing session with Capitol and on a pressing as good as this one you can tell he and the band are having a blast
  • “…his intense, speedy energy gives the album an edge that distinguishes the record… it [has] enough genuine gems to make it necessary.”

We love doing the work that it takes to find Sinatra albums from his prime recording days that actually sound the way we want them to — lively and fun. This means slogging through lots of bad pressings in order to find gems like this one. But hey, that’s what we do. We love it when a record with music this good can be found with sound like this.

Believe me, these Capitol pressings don’t usually sound like this. From the very first notes you hear Billy May’s colorful arrangments come to life in a way you are very unlikely to have heard before. (more…)

Tchaikovsky / Piano Concerto No. 1 – Our First Shootout Winner – 2008

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Tchaikovsky Available Now

This fairly quiet Large Tulips early DG pressing in the heavy cardboard outer sleeve has THE BEST SOUND we have ever heard for this recording! Believe me, they don’t all sound like this! This copy is airy and sweet; just listen to the flutes — you can really hear the air moving through them. There is still some congestion in the loudest passages, but that’s unfortunately not something we can do anything about. Since it’s on every copy we’ve ever played we just have to assume it’s part of the recording.

Of the twenty or so clean copies we’ve auditioned over the last year or two, this one is clearly in a league of its own, with a price to match.

THE Tchaikovsky First

Since this is the best performance of the Tchaikovsky First Piano Concerto of all time, the minor shortcomings in the sound are easy to overlook. The piano sounds solid and full bodied. I don’t know of another performance of this work that gets the sound of the piano better. You can really hear the percussive quality of the instrument. It’s amazing how many piano recordings have poorly mic’ed pianos. They’re either too distant, lack proper reproduction of the lower registers, or somehow smear the pounding of the keys into a blurry mess. The piano sound is what first impressed me when a friend of mine brought the record over for me to hear. Of course I bought it on the spot.

And the texture of the strings is out of this world — you won’t find a DG that gets with better string tone, and 99% of them are worse. This record does not sound like your typical DG: hard, shrill, and sour. DG made good records in the ’50s and ’60s and then proceeded to fall apart, like most labels did. This is one of their finest recordings. It proves that at one time they knew what they were doing.

This recording really only has one shortcoming, which is that in some sections, when it gets loud, it tends to be a bit congested. Other places are very dynamic. I’m guessing somebody dialed in too much compression in those spots, but who’s to say?

[Not sure we would agree with that in 2024. The best copies are not congested when cleaned and played back properly.]

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Jennifer Warnes – Shot Through The Heart

  • Shot Through The Heart makes its Hot Stamper debut here with KILLER Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound from start to finish
  • You get clean, clear, full-bodied, lively and musical ANALOG sound from first note to last
  • 4 stars: ” Jennifer Warnes took charge of the recording of [this] her second Arista album, co-producing it and writing three songs, including the title track… On her own, her taste was impeccable… She proved an adept producer, achieving a smooth pop/rock sound… With session stars like Andrew Gold aboard, Warnes succeeded in making what sounded like the great lost Linda Ronstadt album.”

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Letter of the Week – “I almost fell off my listening chair.”

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Crosby, Stills, Nash and (Sometimes) Young

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

Hey Tom,   

I wanted to thank you and the crew at Better Records for fulfilling my dreams when it comes to your Super hot stampers and, of course, the mind blowing White hot stampers. Two White hot stampers with A+++ sound on all sides come to mind.

I received the Frank Sinatra and Count Basie Live at the Sands about a week ago, and the Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young Deja Vu a couple of days ago. Not in a million years did I ever think a record could have a truly master tape sound. And man, these two White hot stamper have it in spades.

On the Frank Sinatra and Count Basie Live at the Sands, from the moment I dropped the needle on side four or any other side, I almost fell off my listening chair. The presence and immediacy is so staggering on this Lp its as if Frank Sinatra rose from the dead and he transforms into a living, breathing person in my listening room.

Well, this Lp is so darn realistic it boggles my mind that the long playing Lp is capable of sounding like this. The highs are silky sweet and extended, and the bass is extremely tight. As far as the midrange and life on this recording, I’m not sure if there is a single word in the dictionary to describe it.

The Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young Deja Vu absolutely blew my mind and then some. First of all, it absolutely trashed my MoFi into bits and pieces which I have for sale on Ebay, as well as every other MoFi I own. I can’t believe how many Audiophiles love the MoFi version of this Lp.

Back to this mind blowing Lp, nothing could have prepared me for what I was about to hear on this recording. The power of the sound and resolution was so captivating it took my breath completely away. The midrange and highs was one of the best I have ever heard from a Classic rock recording. OMG the textures and vocals on this recording have to be heard to be believed and the bass was extremely deep and tight. I’m talking rock solid right down to the lowest region. Clarity and transparency were simply off the charts on this Lp.

I truly believe in order for you to fully understand what I’m talking about when it comes to these two White hot stampers, you have to experience it for yourself. I’m sure some of you know exactly what I’m talking about.

Some folks who read this might think spending $1,500.00 for two Lp’s is absolutely crazy — not for this discriminating music lover who wants to get master tape sound. I know for a “fact” once you hear the sound of a White hot stamper with A+++ sound, there is no going back to anything else, period!

Tom, I want to thank you and the crew at Better Records for having the unique hearing ability to seek out these mind blowing Hot Stampers. They are truly what I call Masterpieces.

Thanks, N.

Bobby Blue Bland – His California Album

  • With STUNNING Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound from start to finish, this is an incredible pressing and one of the few top copies to ever hit the site
  • It appears that virtually no one in the audiophile community knows how amazing this album sounds on the right pressing – it’s one of the best recordings of Electric Blues we have played in a very long time
  • Pull up some of the man’s music on the internet – what a rich, resonant voice he has!
  • With horns and strings, this heavyweight studio production uses top session players who bring Bland’s blues to life
  • “[A]mong the great storytellers of blues and soul music… [who] created tempestuous arias of love, betrayal and resignation, set against roiling, dramatic orchestrations, and left the listener drained but awed.”

If you’re a fan of BB King, you’re very likely to be a fan of Bobby Blue Bland after playing this album.

Check out Bland’s take on It’s Not The Spotlight, a song I first heard on Rod Stewart’s Atlantic Crossing album. I might have to give it to Bobby on this one. (more…)

The Beach Boys – Surfin’ USA



  • An excellent reissue pressing of this Beach Boys classic from 1963 – this one earned Double Plus (A++) grades for sound or BETTER – fairly quiet vinyl too
  • The sound is big, open, rich, full-bodied and spacious, with the performers front and center (as well as left and right)
  • 4 stars: “The real breakthrough… The LP was a huge hit, vital to launching surf music as a national craze, and one of the few truly strong records to be recorded by a self-contained American rock band prior to the British Invasion.”

NOTE: Vintage covers for this album are hard to find in clean shape. Most of them will have at least some amount of ringwear, seam wear and edge wear. We guarantee that the cover we supply with this Hot Stamper is at least VG, and it will probably be VG+. If you are picky about your covers please let us know in advance so that we can be sure we have a nice cover for you.

It’s hard to find great sounding Beach Boys records, so when we first heard a Hot Stamper of this title we were blown away. The sound is big, open, rich and full, with the performers front and center (as well as left and right). The highs are extended and silky sweet. The bass is tight and punchy. And this copy gives you more life and energy than others by a long shot (more…)