Hot Stamper Pressings of Living Stereo Titles Available Now
Even though they had the Shaded Dog label, some of the later stampers for this record were not very good sounding compared to the ones that won our shootouts.
15s on side one earned a grade that would prevent it from being sold as a Hot Stamper pressing. There was no reason to play side two (13s) since side one eliminated this copy from the competition.
The 1+ grade found on this side one means it’s simply not very good, Shaded Dog label or no Shaded Dog label.
Pressings with these stampers might be passable, even to some degree enjoyable, especially when played on an old school system, but they would not be worth bothering with on the high quality modern equipment we use.
In this case, the conventional wisdom that the original pressings will most likely have superior sound to the later-numbered copies turns out to be right.
The average Shaded Dog may be better than the average classical record, but that certainly doesn’t mean it has any claim to audiophile sound. We’ve played bad early RCA pressings by the hundreds. Now, finally, with this blog we can point some of them out to those record lovers who are more interested in top quality sound than an original label.
For those who might be interested, there’s more on our grading scale here.
There are quite a number of other records that we’ve run into over the years with obvious shortcomings.
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experts and reviewers I’ve encountered on the web seem to be operating exclusively under the influence of many outdated ideas.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 2026
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.