More Straight Answers to Your Hot Stamper Questions
We discuss a number of subjects with our letter writer below, including what we think of The Beatles’ records in mono, our grading system, how we clean our records and various and sundry other aspects of the business we run. These are the kinds of questions we get regularly and are more than happy to answer.
Hey Tom,
First off, I got to say, congratulations on a great concept. Also, congrats on having the balls to charge what these albums are worth.
Thanks. You hit the nail right on the head — we charge what the pressings are worth. They are often incredible sounding records of some of the greatest music ever recorded. We should know; we played them, something that no other record dealers on the face of the earth can say. To those of us who do the listening, as well as our Better Records customers, they are priceless.
Like any business, we charge what the market will bear, and it seems people are willing to pay a lot for these records, although less for some than they used to — some of our records now sell for half or even less than what we were getting two or three or five years ago.
That said, the top copies have held their prices pretty well over the years and have often gone up substantially. It’s the second tier and third tier titles and the Super Hots that have tended to fall in price. That’s where the real “bargains” are these days.
Like all of our Hot Stamper pressings, even the cheapest of them (starting at $25!) are guaranteed to be better sounding than any pressing you own or have ever heard, or your money back.
OK – I spent a fortune on my system. Including acoustic design, the best of everything – speakers, turntable, preamp, amps – you get it. The whole set up probably cost me over $600k.
Wow. I don’t have $600k in my system, but I do have about $600k worth of labor in it (!) You can read all about our stereo here.
I am a crazy fanatic – audio perfection is something that really moves me.
Me too. I wrote about it in a commentary that describes how I fell in love with a record that gave me the reason I needed to get deep into audio.
So, you can imagine I am intrigued with what you are doing. I will try you guys out (already bought my first album – CSNY) very hopeful that I will notice a difference between your albums and others.
Hard to imagine that you won’t hear a huge difference. Most versions of Deja Vu, including audiophile ones, are terrible.
Spoiler alert: he loved it.
I’d love to set up a call to discuss some questions I have regarding some of your best vs. say, they latest Neil Young releases with his archive release bundles. I have first pressings of the newly analog remasters and they are amazing.
I hope we’re not talking about this pressing: After the Gold Rush
I also purchased the Beatles mono set and have a separate mono cartridge and tone arm just for this set. They are real nice – not as great sonically as the Neil releases, but better than the Beatles Stereo box set.
We had a mono set in and spent about a half hour trying to figure out what was wrong with it. I realized in the end that the sound was dead as a doornail. If you want to hear The Beatles sound better than you ever imagined, we can make that happen.
But not in mono. Here are the Hot Stampers pressings of The Beatles, we have in stock, and they guaranteed to blow your mind.
I am also curious as to the system you use to evaluate your albums – and what you see as the holy grail of the A+++ standard.
You probably would not be all that crazy about our system. It’s neutral, like a studio monitor, with zero forgiveness. Only the best sounding records actually sound right on it, which is why it is so useful to us.
As far as our grading system goes, 3+ is our top grade, awarded only to sides that sound just right to us. The ultimate in sound for that album, as good as it gets, which often means Demo Disc Quality. These are very special records, the best pressings we can find.
We have a section for records that earned out top grade on both sides and another section for any record that earned a top grade on at least one side. Note that there are many times more of the latter than there are of the former.
I’d certainly love to hear/purchase the best albums there. (I’d even be willing to fly out to hear your set up).
We don’t let people visit us, but there is a video of me doing some blind testing in the studio, and you can see the whole thing here.
I am also curious as to your best vinyl cleaning system – I am having a problem cleaning my albums. I have the Nessie system on loan from my dealer – not crazy about it.
Here is our take on record cleaning.
Doing it yourself using our methods is expensive and a pain but there is no other way to do it right.
I am to the point where I only want vinyl at the A++ level to listen to, otherwise, I think I will opt for the digital HD Tracks version.
If you have that kind of money in your system, A++ records and up are the only way to go. And Triple Plus will blow your mind.
It are questions I am interesting in asking and getting your POV.
Thanks for the order by the way. Let us know what you think!
Best, Tom
UPDATE 2026
Rocco has gone on to become a very good customer since he wrote this letter. He regularly buys top quality records and no doubt enjoys the hell out of them.
He has written a number of letters to us about our Hot Stampers that we think are well worth reading.
Further Reading