More Letters from Customers and Critics Alike

Ivan recenty decided to write us another letter, only his second since 2006, but we think it’s a good one, well worth the wait.

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I have been buying records from you since 2006. Yup, bought some Heavy Vinyl from ya, thought it sounded pretty good too! DCC Blowout. I think I have a handful left but really have sold off most because they have been replaced with your hot stampers that frankly sound far superior.

To your credit you were credible then as you are now. In fact, I bought a copy of Aftermath in 2006 for a 100 bucks….man what a deal that was. Probably one of the best sounding LPs I have. Its a gem now and I will not part with that press.

Since then I probably have purchased about 300 or more, but who’s counting. Maybe you know me!

It’s not about investment. It’s about looking for the best sound….a never ending journey. Its important to me and I suspect to every one of your customers. I have spent 49 dollars to 1200 dollars on LP’s from you and the 49 dollar wowed me just the same. So what’s it really worth. It’s worth the sound. The experience of hearing your favorite music sound the best its ever sounded. If you care, as I am sure you do reading this, just buy the record. You will be wowed!

So, what is this service worth? And don’t get me wrong, this is a service and they deserve to charge for it.

I log on to Better Records every day. So last week I see a record, let’s just say its an Elton John LP. I am thinking 499 dollars “Super Hot Stamper,” not a gem Elton LP but he can do no wrong pre ’75.

Rarely I don’t buy that album but stupidity reigns supreme and I think hell; I will buy 5 copies at 30 dollars, all DJM Brits and I have four already and do my own shootout!

9 copies. Save some money. What can go wrong?

Well, at considerable cost, just a miserable fail. All in the trash heap to never be listened to by yours truly. Should have bought that one!

In 300 or so records purchased from Better Records I returned two. A Doors original Electra gold label I got lucky with and actually had a better copy, go figure, and a Beach Boys Pet Sounds that I since bought a different copy again from you. Returned the first one probably cause I was too lazy to set up my turntable properly for that LP, and sorry, maybe a glass of wine involved.

Your staff, no matter what, always accommodating no questions asked for a return. Professional and on point. Your product is superior as is your service. Your packaging on shipments, state of art. The best in the biz!

I have a friend that sells high-end gear. He comes to my place and listens and goes what the hell. I bring my hot stampers over and play them against every copy he has on his mega-expensive system and against his copies that are rare, remastered, Heavy Vinyl, etc., and he goes what the hell.

I am no fool. Great sound starts with what’s in the grooves. Bad records are bad records. My stereo is a mess and looks like shit. Cables suspended. Components sideways on pillows. Old gear, new gear… doesn’t matter. What matters is what you hear.

I thank you Tom Port… I talked to you maybe 18 years ago… a revelation. Thank you for helping me learn about great sound and setting up my system and cleaning records. I wrote it all down and still have it as reference to this day. Thank you for that, when you were giving consults to customers. I listen to all your on-line discussions. Love your passion for sound. I learned and listened.

I am getting older, still listening and learning about the records I have. The cymbal crashes, snare and hi-hat on Dreams may not ever sound the same in a years to follow, but on your Hot Stampers I know they will always be there. Ha!

Thank you Tom Port
Thank you to the Better Records crew.
To everyone behind the console…..Praise

Ivan

Ivan,

Thanks for so many kind words, and thanks for keeping Better Records going for all these years. Customers like you are the reason we are still in business.

We’re sorry your shootout didn’t work out. Doing your own shootouts can be a real pain in the ass, but doing an Elton John album pressed on British DJM vinyl kicks the pain quotient up another level or two. Even we have a hard time getting through those noisy pressings.

The sound may make it worth it in the end, but, like you say, the amount of work we have to do for the five hundred bucks we might charge puts his records and others like them out of the reach of the analog music lover who can’t spend the rest of his life finding, cleaning and playing the same album over and over again until a good one comes his way.

It’s not a career, it’s just a piece of music!

Multiply it by the 300 albums you now own and you see how putting together such a collection no matter how committed you might be would be the work of a lifetime and even over a lifetime practically impossible.

We’re very glad to have made that collection possible. (Sorry about the Heavy Vinyl, we didn’t know what we didn’t know back then and we all had a lot to learn. Most still haven’t figured out that it’s a mid-fi scam, and most never will, which is the truly sad part of that story.)

300 really good records is a lot, and they can be played as often as you like, even long after you have lost your high frequency hearing, as I have. I don’t even notice anything missing. I listen to all my music regularly and it still sounds great to me. (Now I know how people can play Heavy Vinyl and enjoy it. When you don’t know much about sound, it sounds just fine.)

Thanks again for your letter and keep enjoying the very special records you’ve acquired over the years. They are priceless.

Sleep well knowing that nothing will ever come along to beat them. If there’s one thing you can be certain of, it’s that.

Best, TP

P.S.

Ivan’s first letter tells the story of two massive shootouts he carried out with a friend, one for Tea for the Tillerman and one for Aja, both involving 16 copies!