Hot Stamper Pressings of Orchestral Spectaculars Available Now
We introduced our most recent shootout winning copy of The Reiner Sound from 1958 this way:
The Reiner Sound returns to the site for the first time in years, here with big, bold, dynamic Triple Plus (A+++) Living Stereo sound throughout this original Shaded Dog pressing.
These are just a few of the things we had to say about this amazing copy in our notes: “fully extended up top”…”sweet and rich”…”supremely dynamic and spacious!!!” (side one)…”massive and tubey and 3D”…”like no other” (side two)…”explosive finish.”
These sides are doing everything right – they’re rich, clear, undistorted, open, spacious, and have depth and transparency to rival the best recordings you may have heard.
This record will have you asking why so few Living Stereo pressings actually do what this one does.
The more critical listeners among you will recognize that this is a very special copy indeed.
Everyone else will just enjoy the hell out of it.
And here are the notes to prove it!
Side one was at least 3+.
- Lots of tape hiss
- The top end really extends
- Sweet and spacious dynamic peaks, and rich
- Supremely dynamic and spacious
Side two was right up there with it:
- Massive and tubey and three-dimensional
- Very full and dynamic
- The explosive finish is like no other
When you’ve played as many Living Stereo titles as we have (250+ and counting), you’re bound to run into this kind of Demo Disc sound from time to time – it’s what makes record collecting fun.
This Reiner Sound was an amazing find, the kind of record we live for here at Better Records. (It also helps pay the bills.)
1958 just happens to be one of the truly great years for analog recordings, as evidenced by this amazing group of albums, all of which were recorded or released that year.
Here It Comes
You know what’s unusual about these notes?
They’re the kind of notes we’ve never written for any Heavy Vinyl reissue, even for the one that won our shootout not long ago.
They are the kind of notes that make it clear to us what a sham the modern Heavy Vinyl pressing tends to be, even those that are done right.
No modern record we’ve ever played has ever had anything even approaching this kind of big as life sound, and we doubt one ever will.
Records like this vintage vinyl pressing are thrilling in a way that very, very few records ever are.
Surprisingly, many of the most thrilling records we’ve ever played came from the same decade this record came from: the 50s. Once you hear sound like this, you are not likely to forget it.
It sets a standard that modern remastered records simply cannot meet.
Further Reading