Hot Stamper Pressings of Orchestral Spectaculars Available Now
UPDATE 2024
This is a very old review. The last time we sat down to play a number of copies of this recording, we were underwhelmed by all of them There may be some great sounding pressings out there, but we did not have any on hand and don’t want to commit the resources that would be needed to find them.
Our favorite recording that we stock, for both sound and performance, is the Mercury with Dorati from 1961.
It is guaranteed to give your system a real workout, especially if you can play it something approaching live levels in order to get the tympani and bass drum sounding right.
Our Old Review
This is a Decca In The Box British Import LP featuring Spartacus on side one and Gayaneh on side two with the Vienna Phil.
Side Two is the BEST EVER! Just play the Sabre Dance! This famous TAS List LP has a very good side one as well, 90 to 95% the best. This is a record that deserves its Super Disc ranking. It IS a Super Disc!
The above is an Older Classical/Orchestral Review
Most of the older reviews you see are for records that did not go through the shootout process, the revolutionary approach to finding better sounding pressings we started developing in the early 2000s and have since turned into a veritable science.
We found the records you see in these older listings by cleaning and playing a pressing or two of the album, which we then described and priced based on how good the sound and surfaces were. (For out Hot Stamper listings, the Sonic Grades and Vinyl Playgrades are listed separately.)
We were often wrong back in those days, something we have no reason to hide. Audio equipment and record cleaning technologies have come a long way since those darker days, a subject we discuss here.
Currently, 99% (or more!) of the records we sell are cleaned, then auditioned under rigorously controlled conditions, up against a number of other pressings. We award them sonic grades, and then condition check them for surface noise.
As you may imagine, this approach requires a great deal of time, effort and skill, which is why we currently have a highly trained staff of about ten. No individual or business without the aid of such a committed group could possibly dig as deep into the sound of records as we have, and it is unlikely that anyone besides us could ever come along to do the kind of work we do.
The term “Hot Stampers” gets thrown around a lot these days, but to us it means only one thing: a record that has been through the shootout process and found to be of exceptionally high quality.
The result of our labor is the hundreds of titles seen here, every one of which is unique and guaranteed to be the best sounding copy of the album you have ever heard or you get your money back.