Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of John Coltrane Available Now
One of our good customers had this to say about a copy of Lush Life he purchased not long ago.
Even a 2+ [Super Hot] was enough to eliminate the 2021 Concord/AP [Analogue Productions] 33 RPM KPG [Kevin Gray] LP on 180 gram which was my copy until this Hot Stamper.
I listened to side 1 first. Well shit … it sounds clean, it sounds nice, a bit flat but that’s how I thought it was supposed to be, and sounds quite audiophile.
Simply put, the BR copy truly brings the music to life.
Much more vibrance and tonal nuances making for a much more engaging listening experience.
All I know is the BR LP destroyed the above to smithereens.
As always, many thanks!
Michel
Dear Michel,
You are more than welcome. When you mention that you thought the album sounded clean, nice, a bit flat, you were in the same boat as all the other audiophiles who own these modern remasterings who have been putting up with their mediocre sound. Why?
Because they thought the recordings were at fault.
After all, Chad must know what he’s doing, he’s the biggest guy in the business.
And Kevin Gray must know what he’s doing, he can’t keep up with all the work these reissue labels are sending his way.
They’re the pro’s pros, right?
No, not right. Not even close to right. The opposite of right.
They are incompetent frauds that have the bulk of the audiophile community utterly bamboozled.
Even the worst of the Hot Stamper pressings we sell are worlds better sounding, and the way you can find this out for yourself, dear reader, is simply to try one.
UPDATE 2025
Our review for the 2021 Bernie Grundman-mastered Craft pressing of Lush Life will be coming to the blog before long, only two years (!) after Geoff Edgers brought one to the studio for me to audition.
Spoiler alert: I didn’t like it then — I told Geoff at the time that I bet it sounded worse than whatever CD might currently be in print — and my main listening guy, Riley, having played it in a recent shootout, didn’t like it any better.
Our Story
We’ve critically listened to countless pressings in the 37 39 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? (If you think you are one of the more trustworthy types, we respectfully ask is that you back up your claims.)
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 to be operating exclusively under the influence of many outdated ideas.
These ideas seriously limit their ability to understand and appreciate the only approach to audio that works, one which is based not on ideas but simply the evidence derived from properly run record experiments.
UPDATE 2025
Woops, I take that back. I have met someone who knows what he is talking about, a certain Mr. Robert Brook.
He has been conducting his own shootouts for a few years now and has made the resulting 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 guaranteed to 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 some of them are just ridiculously bad.
And if we can’t beat whatever LP you own, or even the best one you have ever heard, you get your money back.
Further Reading
We’ve all been fooled many times over to the tune of thousands of dollars by Chad and his crew. As you said, I always thought that’s how the music was recorded. How the heck to these guys these days just continue to produce “audiophile” sounding records that just sound like meh. As always…you don’t know until you know!!….I’d have rather spent my dollars at BR back then…if I had only know. But then again way back I thought Japanese lps were the thing, then Mofi, etc etc.
But I do remember when I bought the AP Cat Stevens Tea for the Tillerman and not being impressed by it. I almost thought it was me!! Now I know much better!!
Dear Sir,
It’s not you, you are definitely hearing the “meh” of the modern audiophile LP correctly.
Based on what I see on forums and Discogs and the like, now that you have woken up, you will find yourself in the minority and shouted down by the believers at every turn.
But I hope you will spread the word anyway!
Thanks for your letter.
Best, TP