Month: March 2021

Rachmaninoff / Piano Concerto No. 1 / Katin / Boult

More of the music of Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943)

More of the music of Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)

  • This superb classical release makes its Hot Stamper debut here with outstanding Double Plus (A++) sound or BETTER throughout
  • The orchestra is big, rich and tubey here, yet the dynamics and transparency are first rate
  • Some old record collectors (like me) say classical recording quality ain’t what it used to be – here’s all the proof anyone with two working ears and top quality audiophile equipment needs to make the case

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Sibilance Can Be a Bitch (and a Good Test for Table Setup Too)

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of 10cc Available Now

On side two the tonal balance is key. If there is any boost to the top end, the vocals on track two will SPIT LIKE CRAZY.

This is also a good test for how well your cartridge and arm are doing their jobs. Sibilance is a bitch. The best pressings, with the most extension up top and the least amount of aggressive grit and grain mixed into the sound, played using the best front ends, will keep it to a minimum. VTA, tracking weight, azimuth and anti-skate adjustments are critical to reducing the spit in your records.

We discuss the sibilance problems of MoFi records all over the site. Have you ever read Word One about this problem elsewhere? Of course not. Audiophiles and audiophile reviewers just seem to put up with these problems, or ignore them, or — even worse — simply fail to recognize them at all.

Play around with your table setup for a few hours and you will no doubt be able to reduce the sibilance problems on your favorite test and demo discs. All your other records will thank you for it too. 

This record, along with the others linked below, is good for testing the following qualities.

  1. Grit and grain
  2. Sibilance (it’s a bitch) 

Playing so many records day in and day out means that we wear out our Dynavector 17DX cartridges often, about every three to four months.

Which requires us to regularly mount a new cartridge in our Triplanar.

Once broken in (50 hours min.), we then proceed to the fine setup work required to get it to sound its best, adjusting the VTA, azimuth and tracking weight for maximum fidelity.

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Duane Eddy / Twangin’ The Golden Hits

More Duane Eddy

More Living Stereo Recordings

  • Duane Eddy’s 1965 release makes its Hot Stamper debut here with a Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) side one and an outstanding Double Plus (A++) side two
  • We guarantee the sound is dramatically bigger, richer, fuller, and livelier than any Duane Eddy you have ever heard
  • Not many of the man’s records survived in audiophile playing condition, but this one did
  • A superb pressing with energy and presence that positively JUMPS out of the speakers, two of the qualities that we prize most highly in our Hot Stampers, and two of things among many that Heavy Vinyl does so poorly
  • “Every song is enjoyable. Most of the album is fun and peppy, with a few slower tunes thrown in, like ‘Last Date’ and ‘Theme from a Summer Place.'”

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Brahms / Symphony No. 1 in C Minor / Krips

Decca and London Hot Stamper Pressings Available Now

Hot Stamper sound of both sides of this fairly quiet London Blueback pressing of CS 6110.

It has been our experience that good sounding Brahms Symphonies are exceedingly difficult to find on vinyl. This may in fact be the first one to make it to the site. This copy has many nice sonic qualities which we discuss in more detail below. It’s Old School but enjoyable. Krips’ performance with the Vienna Phil is excellent.

Side One

A+ sound, rich and full but a bit thick and congested, a sound that is quite common to Blueback pressings as a rule.

Side Two

A+, fairly clear and open, yet still rich, but there is quite a bit of compression, which makes the quiet passages sound amazing but causes the loudest sections to become congested.

John Cougar Mellencamp – Scarecrow

More John Cougar Mellencamp

  • Scarecrow finally makes its Hot Stamper debut here with superb Nearly Triple Plus (A++ to A+++) sound from start to finish – just shy of our Shootout Winner
  • This copy rocks like crazy with serious weight down low, huge size and space, and plenty of driving energy
  • Featured on Rolling Stone’s 100 Greatest Albums of the 1980s, boasting “Scarecrow consolidated the band’s rugged, roots-rock thrash and the ongoing maturation of Mellencamp’s lyrics.”
  • 4 1/2 stars: “A loose concept album about lost innocence and the crumbling of small-town America, Scarecrow says as much with its tough rock and gentle folk-rock as it does with its lyrics… [Mellencamp’s] writing has never been more powerful…”

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Ten Years After – A Killer Audio Fidelity Gold CD

Hot Stamper Pressings of Psychedelic Rock Recordings Available Now

Our old commentary:

The BGO Import CD of this album is excellent. No match for a Hot Stamper of course, but dramatically better than the average classic rock CD, and quite a bit better than the domestic CDs we’ve auditioned, which are flat and badly lacking in Tubey Magic.

UPDATE 2014

The Audio Fidelity Gold CD mastered by Steve Hoffman is even better.

If you don’t want to buy a Hot Stamper LP, that CD is your best bet (assuming it sounds as good as mine, something one should not assume, but that’s a story for another day).

Letter of the Week – “Meanwhile I sold out near all my pseudo-audiophile LPs – they are useless.”

What Exactly Are Hot Stamper Pressings?

One of our good customers had this to say about some Hot Stampers he has been buying lately [emphasis added].

Hey Tom, 

I want to express my gratitude to your long-lasting efforts with regard to music.

It has fully changed my whole life as a listener of music. 

It’s a great pleasure and I reached a complete different level of enjoyment and listening habits. To hear a Hot Stamper it’s also often a physical and emotional experience (sensation of heat, tears in the eyes, palpitations etc.). Thanks to your great Hot Stampers I might experience with so much pleasure.

Meanwhile I sold out near all my pseudo-audiophile LP’s (i.e. MFSL, Nautilus, DCC, Simply Vinyl etc.) – they are useless.

And last but not least it’s very important to buy these hot LPs now and here, before deafness, tinnitus (my greatest fear) and dementia are going to kill us. All LPs are worth their price, because I can imagine how much effort it takes to do the shootouts. (I did some.) (more…)

Styx – The Grand Illusion

More Styx

  • This phenomenal pressing of The Grand Illusion boasts Nearly Triple Plus (A++ to A+++) sound from start to finish – just shy of our Shootout Winner
  • Both sides are big, full, punchy, energetic, spacious, and they even have a healthy amount of Tubey Magic (which came as quite a surprise)
  • 4 stars: “Other than being their first platinum-selling album, The Grand Illusion led Styx steadfastly into the domain of AOR rock. Built on the strengths of Come Sail Away’s ballad-to-rock metamorphosis, which gained them their second Top Ten hit, and on the high harmonies of newcomer Tommy Shaw throughout Fooling Yourself, The Grand Illusion introduced Styx to the gates of commercial stardom.”

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Sonny Rollins – Vol. 2 – Our Shootout Winner from 2011

The Music of Sonny Rollins Available Now

Sonny Rollins Albums We’ve Reviewed

  • Side two of this stereo pressing is at least Super Hot – it’s huge, rich and tubey
  • Side one is Super Hot, musical, lively, clear and real sounding
  • Another classic late ’50s RVG recording of some of the greatest Jazz Giants who ever lived
  • “…a timeless session and a milestone in jazz history that gathered together some of the founding fathers of the post-bop era.”

Even though this session was supposedly recorded in one day on April 14, 1957 we heard an anomaly that took us somewhat by surprise. The first and third track on side two sound amazing, better than anything on side one. However, the second track, You Stepped Out Of A Dream, has sound that is clearly a step down from anything else on the album. It’s smaller and more congested. Why that is we have no idea, but we felt it was worth pointing out.

Sonny’s horn on side two is especially big and rich, with huge amounts of Tubey Magic as befits an all-tube 1957 Blue Note recording. This is clearly the right sound for this music.

Note that side one is not quite as tubey but makes up for it with energy and clarity that we found conveys the music beautifully. (more…)

Astrud Gilberto – Look To The Rainbow

More Astrud Gilberto

More Bossa Nova

  • An outstanding copy with solid Double Plus (A++) sound or BETTER from first note to last
  • This kind of spacious, warm, rich, Tubey Magical analog sound is gone forever – you have to go back to 1966 to find it
  • Creed Taylor (the CTI man) produced, Gil Evans did most of the arrangements, Rudy Van Gelder and Val Valentin engineered – what’s not to like?
  • 4 1/2 stars: “This was a beautiful bossa nova record of Astrud Gilberto’s vocal stylings…”

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