One of our good customers had this to say about a Hot Stamper pressing of Abbey Road he purchased a while ago:
Hey Tom,
I just played a couple of songs from the Abbey Road album ($850) I just purchased and I am blown away by the sound. The texture and clarity of the bass drum in Come Together is much more pronounced than any of the copies of the 10 Abbey Road copies that I have, including the MoFi and [Japanese] Pro Use albums. The album is so much better in all areas.
It was well worth the money and I am grateful to have it as it is my favorite album.
I like forward to hearing all of the songs. Wishing you all the best.
Ed
Ed,
That’s great news. Looking back through some of the emails we’ve exchanged, I see that I told you we would send you the best sounding Beatles records you ever imagined, and by the looks of it, apparently that is indeed the case.
Glad to know you like our records as much as we do. We charged $850 for that copy because it sounded like at least $850 worth of great sound and music.
Enjoy your new Beatles records and thanks for your business and support.
Best, TP
P.S.
Want to find your own killer copy?
Consider taking our moderately helpful advice concerning the pressings that consistently win our shootouts.
As of 2026, shootouts for this album should be carried out:
How else can you expect to hear this album at its best?
Based on our experience, Abbey Road sounds its best:
One More Thing
We recently posted a lengthy commentary about conventional wisdom in order to make the case that, although the most common record collecting approaches are more often right than wrong, there is simply no way to know which approach will work for any given title.
Abbey Road is a good example of how the conventional wisdom — that the original pressings are going to be the best sounding — often turns out to be wrong.
Further Reading
- Arcana – specialized knowledge and deep secrets
- Important lessons we learned from record experiments
- Shootouts can be tricky – here are some of the lessons we’ve learned over the last 20 years
The typical shootout notes for Abbey Road would look something like this.
