Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Cat Stevens Available Now

Our good customer Michel wrote to us about his experience playing three Hot Stamper pressings of Mona Bone Jakon, two of which were our new favorite imports (hence the shootout winning grades) and one domestic LP that came close to them in sound  quality. Close, but no cigar.

At the bottom of the post you can see the notes for one of the knockout copies he bought.

Hi Tom,

Well, I’ve been going at it for about an hour and a half.

3 Hot Stamper copies… NWHS US 2.5/2.5… WHS UK 2.5/3… WHS UK 3/2.5.

Using both UK 3+ White Hots, I went back and forth and back and forth again with side one. The 3+ side one is definitely the winner. That is also my favorite side.

The more I listened, the more the 2.5+ side one sounded like a wanna-be 3.0! It was straining to get there, but simply could not. Everything really dialed in with the 3+ side.

There seemed to be less vocal strain on the sound with the 3+.

The amazing openess, clarity, warmth, natural tonality, extended bass that reverberates throughout my house and beyond are simply phenomenal. These ever so deep reverberating bass notes are simply divine on this 3+.

What a pleasure to listen to. I don’t think I own many records that can produce the sound that this one does.

I am so happy I emailed you with queries and so happy that you sent me this particular copy to sample. That was really cool. Thanks for that.

I did eventually get to side 2. The UK 2.5+ is a little more colored than the 3.0. I am cool with that, as side one is definitely my favorite. The domestic 2.5+/2.5+ is quite nice indeed, but today I definitely have to go with the UK!
It is more vibrant and has superior bass.

As always, but especially this time,

Many Thanks,
Michel

Michel,

Thanks for writing so enthusiastically about the shootout you jsut carried out, or perhaps it’s better that I thank you for taking the time to do your own shootout in the first place. It’s practically the only way to learn about records, and it seemed you were learning a lot as you went back and forth with the three copies we had sent you.

That’s why shootouts can be such a thrill. You really dig deep into the music and the sound and learn things about both that you could never have learned any other way. It’s happened to me countless times and now it’s happened to you.

It’s an hour and a half you won’t regret spending with one of the truly classic Folk Rock records of the 70s. I did a track by track breakdown for the album for those of you who want some advice and what to listen for when comparing pressings.

It’s one of the records that helped us dramatically improve the quality of our playback, along with scores of others you can read about here on the blog.

And in 2024, after playing dozens of copies of the album over the course of more than twenty years, we discovered the imports that actually can beat the best of the domestic pressings. What a shocker.

Our notes for one of the copies that Michel bought can be seen below. Other notes for Top Copy pressings can be found here.

Best, TP

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