Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Tchaikovsky Available Now
1S/1S Shaded Dog original pressing.
Ooh, let the drooling begin.
Here is our admittedly very old review for exactly the one copy we had on hand to play, although, to be fair, we have played more than one copy of the album over the years, and it never sounded especially good to us on any of the copies we auditioned.
The violin is very immediate sounding on this recording, maybe too much so.
Either way, the sound of the orchestra is where this record falls short.
It’s congested, thin and shrill in places. The right copy of Heifetz’s performance on LSC 1992 is a much better record overall. Some may prefer Szeryng’s way with this famous piece, which, as a matter of taste, is fine by us.
If you’re listening for just the performance and the sound of the violin, you may find this record to be more acceptable than we did.
This RCA had a case of the “old record” sound we find on countless vintage pressings. The world is full of bad records. We’ve suffered through them by the thousands.
Only an old school audio system can hide the faults of a pressing such as this. The world is full of those too.
Here are some that did not make the cut — a very small fraction of what we’ve auditioned — broken down into the three major labels that account for most of the best classical and orchestral titles we’ve had the pleasure to play.
- London/Decca records with weak sound or performances
- Mercury records with weak sound or performances
- RCA records with weak sound or performances
We’ve auditioned countless pressings in the 37 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, through trial and error. It may be expensive and time consuming, but there is simply no other method for finding better records that works. If you know of one, please write me!
We are not the least bit interested in records that are “known” to sound the best.
Known by whom? Which audiophiles — hobbyists or professionals, take your pick — can be trusted to know what they are talking about when it comes to the sound of records?
I have never met one, outside of those of us who work for Better Records. I remain skeptical of the existence of such a creature. The audiophile experts and reviewers I’ve encountered on the web seem hopelessly lost to me.
[UPDATE: 2024] Woops, I take that back. I have met one, a certain Mr. Robert Brook. He has been conducting his own shootouts for a few years now and has made his findings available on his blog, The Broken Record. This is information you can trust.
We’re looking for records that actually do sound the best.
If you’re an audiophile with an ear for top quality sound on vintage vinyl, we’d be happy to send you the Hot Stamper pressing that we guaranty will beat anything and everything you’ve heard, especially if you have any pressing marketed as suitable for an audiophile. Those, with few exceptions, are rarely better than mediocre.
And if we can’t beat whatever LP you own or have heard, you get your money back. It’s as simple as that.