Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of The Cars Available Now

A well-known audiophile reviewer posted pictures of the Cars albums you see below.

As would be expected, it looks like he has rounded up the usual suspects from his collection:

• A domestic pressing (probably), perhaps even an early one.
• A Japanese pressing.
• A Mobile Fidelity pressing (notice how contrasty the jacket photo is), and
• The Rhino Heavy Vinyl pressing, which we reviewed recently here.

What are the chances that any of these pressings are any good?

Let me guess. One out of four?

If a “shootout” was done with these four pressings, would it even pass the laugh test?

One thing you can be sure of after seeing a photo like this one: the person who owns these pressings can be counted on to not have a clue about what the album should actually sound like.

The fact that junk pressings such as these sit on his record shelf taking up space speaks volumes about this fellow’s idea of what constitutes a “good record.”

Some reviewers learned about records in the 80s, and they haven’t learned much since. I wrote a piece about it years ago with the title the reviewers from 1982 blow it again.

This embarrassing group of Cars pressings is just another sign that the people who are making judgments about modern Heavy Vinyl pressing are comparing them to pressings I realized were junk more than 25 years ago. Can they have learned so little in all these years?

And where is the Nautilus pressing? I bought mine in 1980 when it came out. Shouldn’t this reviewer have one? He has all the same pressings that audiophiles like him tend to collect. Why not that one?

If you would like to know what a good pressing of The Cars’ First Album sounds like, our review can be found here.

More reviews, letters and commentaries can be found here.

Keep In Mind

Every audiophile reading this blog post should know that he has much better options than the audiophile-approved pressings the reviewer posted pictures of.

And you certainly don’t need to buy expensive pressings from us. You can find your own, the kinds of records taht are sure to beat anything they are making these days. And we are happy to tell you exactly how to do it at no charge.

It can be a lot of work, and it certainly is not cheap, but the better sound you will find should more than compensate you for your efforts.

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