Hot Stamper Pressings of Jazz Piano Recordings Available Now
On this record, we say stick with stereo.
This album is much more common in mono than stereo, but we found the sound of the mono pressing we played deeply unsatisfying.
Where is the wall to wall space of the live club?
It has been shrunken down into the area between the speakers.
Much of the ambience disappeared with it, destroying the illusion the album was trying to create, that you are actually there with Ramsey and his rhythm section.
In mono, you really aren’t.
For albums that actually can sound sound good in mono, so good they can win shootouts, click here.
The World Is Full of Them
Most record collections are full of these kinds of records.
They sit on the shelf, never getting played because the lackluster sound prevents any kind of emotional engagement with the music.
Only an old school audio system can hide the faults of a pressing such as this. The world is full of those too, even though they might comprise all the latest and most expensive components.
If you see this album in mono at a garage sale, don’t even waste a buck on it. Not even a quarter. It’s not worth the vinyl it’s pressed on.
Testing with Ramsey
Lately we have been writing quite a bit about how good pianos are for testing your system, room, tweaks, electricity and all the rest, not to mention turntable setup and adjustment.
- We like our pianos to sound natural (however one chooses to define the term)
- We like them to be solidly weighted
- We like them to be free of smear, a quality that for some reason is rarely mentioned in the audiophile reviews we read*
- Here are some other jazz records with top quality piano sound