Month: November 2024

Don’t Waste Your Money on this Living Stereo from 1962

Hot Stamper Pressings of Living Stereo Titles Available Now

LSC 2612, released in 1962 on the Shaded Dog label, offers Handel’s Water Music and Royal Fireworks with Stokowski conducting, engineered by one of the greats, Robert Simpson.

The sound is terrible however.

The copies we had on hand were loud and crude, with steely strings and not much in the way of hall space. In other words, LSC 2612 seems to suffer from the “old record” sound that we’ve found on many of the hundreds of vintage pressings we’ve auditioned over the years as we were looking for top quality recordings to put in our Hot Stamper shootouts.

If you want a good Water Music, the right stamper pressings of the Philips recording with Leppard are the best we’ve ever played.

The Shaded Dog of LSC 2612 might be passable on an old school system, but it was too unpleasant to be played on the high quality modern equipment we use.

Leave this RCA to the collectors. Some audiophiles are of the opinion that vintage Living Stereo recordings on the original label can do no wrong, but we have never subscribed to that view.

There are quite a number of other records that we’ve run into over the years with similar shortcomings. Here are some of them, a very small fraction of what we’ve played, broken down by label.

  • London/Decca records with weak sound or performances
  • Mercury records with weak sound or performances
  • RCA records with weak sound or performances

1962 was a phenomenal year for audiophile quality recordings – we’ve auditioned and reviewed more than one hundred and twenty titles as of 2024, and there are undoubtedly a great many more that we’ve yet to discover.

When it comes to classical and orchestral titles, more than a dozen are so good that we would consider them Must Owns.

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These Are the Stampers to Avoid on A Hard Day’s Night

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of The Beatles Available Now

In our experience, the stereo pressings with -2/-2 stampers are terrible sounding.

We do not have any on hand, but we doubt that -1/-1 — the original, the first, the one approved by George Martin himself! — is any better.

With -2 stampers this is a hall of shame pressing, as well as another early Beatles LP reviewed and found seriously wanting.

You may know that the pressings with -2 stampers are the ones that come in the original BC-13 Beatles Box from 1978.

Some of the titles in that set can sound very good, but this is not one of them. To recognize a mid-70s pressing, note that the back of the jacket will have a laminate strip on the side. At the bottom of this post you can find a picture of it.

Avoid that cover and the record inside it if you want a good sounding pressing of A Hard Day’s Night.

That Old Canard

The early pressings are consistently grittier, edgier and more crude than the later pressings we’ve played. So much for that old canard that “the original is better.” When it comes to A Hard Day’s Night it just ain’t so, and it doesn’t take a state-of-the-art system or a pair of golden ears to hear it.

The audiophile community seems not to have caught on to the faults of the early Beatles pressings, but we here at Better Records are doing our best to correct these and other misconceptions, one Hot Stamper pressing at a time.

It may be a lot of work, but we don’t mind — we love The Beatles! We want to find the best sounding copies of ALL their records, and there is simply no other way to do it than to play them, preferably by the dozens.

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Waiting For Columbus – We Broke Through in 2017

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Little Feat Available Now

Way back in 2009 we had this to say about a Hot Stamper pressing we listed:

This German import pressing of Waiting for Columbus is much better sounding than the typical Mastering Lab-mastered copy.

This German pressing is similar to one that came from my own personal collection, accidentally discovered way back in the early ’80s as I recall. It KILLED my domestic original, and got some things right that even my treasured Mobile Fidelity pressing couldn’t. We have been meaning to do a shootout for this album for at least the last five years, but kept running into the fact that in a head to head shootout the right MoFi pressing — sloppy bass and all — was hard to beat.

This is no longer the case, courtesy of that same old laundry list you have no doubt seen on the site countless times: better equipment, tweaks, record cleaning, room treatments, et cetera, et cetera. Now the shortcomings of the MoFi are clear for all to see, and the strengths of the best non-Half-Speed mastered pressings are too, which simply means that playing the MoFi now is an excruciating experience.

All I can hear is what it does wrong.

I was so much happier with it when I didn’t know better.

That same laundry list of improvements continued to pay big dividends, and right around 2017 or so the best original domestic Mastering Lab copies started to sound much more right to us than the German ones. 

The German pressings can be good, but the TML pressings are the only ones we would expect to win shootouts from now on.

But who knows? We might find something even better down the road. That’s what shootouts are for. (more…)

Haydn / Symphony No. 94 / Fjeldstad

More of the Music of Joseph Haydn

  • With solid Double Plus (A++) Living Stereo sound or BETTER on both sides, this original RCA Camden pressing of Fjeldstad and the Oslo Phil’s outstanding performance is doing just about everything right
  • It’s also fairly quiet at Mint Minus Minus, a grade that even our most well-cared-for vintage classical titles have trouble playing at
  • This copy is simply bigger, more transparent, less distorted, more three-dimensional and more REAL than most of what we played
  • The rich, textured sheen of the strings that Living Stereo made possible in the 50s and early 60s is clearly evident throughout these pieces, something that the Heavy Vinyl crowd will never experience, because that sound just does not exist on modern records
  • There are about 150 orchestral recordings we think offer the best performances with the highest quality sound. This record is certainly deserving of a place on that list.

This vintage RCA Living Stereo Camden LP has stunning Hot Stamper sound on both sides. It’s one of the best Camdens, if not actually the best. In true Living Stereo fashion, a natural, realistic concert hall perspective unfolds before you. The sound is rich, smooth, sweet and tubey, with lovely sheen on the strings — what’s not to like?

Fjeldstad’s performance is excellent as well. Fjeldstad, you may remember, is the man behind the definitive Peer Gynt on Decca (SXL 2012). His recordings may not be common but they have never disappointed. If you can’t own all 104 of Haydn’s symphonies, make sure that at least this one is in your collection.

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Cat Stevens – Numbers

More Cat Stevens

More Singer-Songwriter Albums

  • A vintage copy of Cat Stevens’s 1975 concept album (only the second to ever hit the site), here with two incredible Nearly Triple Plus (A++ to A+++) sides – just shy of our Shootout Winner
  • The sound here is rich and Tubey Magical, two qualities the CD made from these tapes surely lacks and two qualities which are crucial if this music is to sound the way Cat Stevens intended
  • This music is definitely not for everyone, but if you’re a fan, you might find this an interesting look into the man’s musical ideas in the mid-70s
  • Forget that critical listening stuff and just notice that these Hot Stamper copies are simply more relaxed, musical and involving than anything you’ve heard – guaranteed or your money back

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Brothers in Arms – Not Bad When It’s Properly Mastered and Pressed!

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Dire Straits Available Now

Many copies suffer from harsh, digital-sounding highs.

Pull out your old copy and listen to the beginning of side two and you should have no trouble hearing what we’re on about.

Compare that to the silkier, sweeter top end on even the lowest-graded Hot Stamper pressing you may have picked up from your friends at Better Records and it’s unlikely you’ll find yourself going back to listening to whatever pressing you had been playing.

The comparison, we hope, will be edifying.

Want to find your own top quality copy?

Consider taking our moderately helpful advice concerning the pressings that tend to win our shootouts.

In our experience, this record sounds best this way:

And that means that it’s Robert Ludwig’s initials you should be looking for in the dead wax. Accept no substitutes.

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Rob Wasserman – Duets

More Rob Wasserman

  • This rare and wonderful album from 1988 on the original MCA label boasts KILLER Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound or close to it throughout
  • Here are just a few of the things we had to say about this incredible copy in our notes: “really full and present vox”…”good weight”…”the most space” (side one)…”detailed and textured and spacious”…”deep bass”
  • In-the-room vocal presence (Jennifer Warnes is stunning on Leonard Cohen’s “Ballad Of The Runaway Horse”) and tight, note-like bass are key to the best pressings
  • 4 1/2 stars: “Some amazing duets and a great lineup that includes Aaron Neville (v), Stephane Grappelli (violin), Dan Hicks (v, g), and so on. The jazz community missed this one.” [But the audiophile community loved it.]
  • Our old friend Bernie Grundman handled the mastering for Duets, back when he was still making good sounding records. Everything changed when he started working for Classic Records in the ’90s. Based on the scores we’ve played, the vast majority of his remastered pressings leave a lot to be desired. You can read more about them here.

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The Moody Blues – In Search Of The Lost Chord

More of The Moody Blues

Reviews and Commentaries for The Moody Blues

  • Incredible sound throughout this early UK pressing, with both sides earning Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades or close to them – fairly quiet vinyl too
  • Here are just a few of the things we had to say about this killer copy in our notes: “jumping out of the speakers”…”big and tubey”…”sweet and breathy vox”…”weighty and rich”…”much more transparent and detailed” (side two)
  • Chock full of Moodies Magic: warm, full-bodied, rich and smooth, with tremendous space and plenty of rock energy
  • The first Moody Blues album to feature their trademark mellotron arrangements, and what a glorious sound that is when it sounds like this
  • “…the album on which the Moody Blues discovered drugs and mysticism as a basis for songwriting and came up with a compelling psychedelic creation, filled with songs about Timothy Leary and the astral plane and other psychedelic-era concerns.”

This early Deram British import LP has outstanding sound and reasonably quiet vinyl. It has higher resolution, is more dynamic, sweeter and clearer than practically all other copies, without sacrificing the richness, warmth and lushness for which the Moody Blues recordings are justifiably famous. I’ll put it this way — this pressing is correct from top to bottom, so present and alive, while still retaining all the richness and sweetness we expect from British Moody Blues records.

This copy has all the elusive elements that we search for: vocal clarity, real weight down low, great energy, tight punchy bass, and lots of texture to the keyboards and synths. This copy is full of Tubey Magic and, importantly, it doesn’t sound too murky or muddy. That’s a neat trick for any copy of this album, as those of you who’ve been playing it for years certainly know by now.

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Chet Atkins – The Other Chet Atkins

More Chet Atkins

More Living Stereo Recordings

  • Rich, smooth, sweet, full of ambience, dead-on correct tonality — it’s all here on this wonderful TAS list recording
  • Need a refresher course in Tubey Magic after playing too many modern recordings or remasterings? This record is overflowing with it
  • It seems as though Bill Porter just doesn’t know how not to make an amazing sounding Living Stereo recording. Everything the guy touches is GOLD!
  • If you’re a fan of Chet Atkin’s albums from the Golden Age of the 50s and 60s, this vintage Living Stereo pressing from 1960 surely belongs in your collection

Acoustic guitar reproduction is superb on the better copies of this album. The harmonic coherency, the richness, the body, and simply phenomenal amounts of Tubey Magic can be heard on every strum.

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The Band – The Last Waltz

More of The Band

More Roots Rock LPs

  • The Last Waltz is back on the site for only the second time in about a year, here with roughly Nearly Triple Plus (A++ to A+++) sound on all SIX sides of these vintage Palm Tree pressings – just shy of our Shootout Winner (sides two and three actually won the shootout)
  • These sides are rich, dynamic and natural sounding, with low end weight, midrange smoothness and powerful, punchy bass
  • Features an A-list of brilliant artists, including Van Morrison, Ringo Star, Joni Mitchell, and Muddy Waters, just to name a few, and it’s surely the reason that this record is so hard to find and so expensive when you do find it
  • Problems in the vinyl are sometimes the nature of the beast with these Classic Rock records – there simply is no way around them if the superior sound of vintage analog is important to you
  • 4 stars: “It’s the Band’s ‘special guests’ who really make this set stand out — Muddy Waters’ ferocious version of ‘Mannish Boy’ would have been a wonder from a man half his age, Van Morrison sounds positively joyous on ‘Caravan,’ Neil Young and Joni Mitchell do well for their Canadian brethren, and Bob Dylan’s closing set finds him in admirably loose and rollicking form.”
  • If you’re a fan of The Band, and what audiophile wouldn’t be?, this triple album from 1978 belongs in your collection

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