Month: July 2026

Are Hot Stampers a Better Mousetrap? A Case of Added Value? A Scam?

Basic Concepts and Realities Explained

This hobby is supposed to be fun. If you’ve been in it for any length of time you know that sometimes it is and sometimes it isn’t.

But if you enjoy doing it at least some of the time, and you devote the proper resources to it — the three big ones are time, effort and money — you will no doubt derive much more pleasure from it than you ever dreamed would be possible.

Especially if you use our approach. It works for us and there’s no reason it can’t work for you.

Finding Hot Stampers is all about doing shootouts for as many different pressings of the same title as you can get your hands on.

There are four basic steps you must take, and you have to do right by each of the four if you are going to be successful at discovering and evaluating your own Hot Stampers. 

We discuss every one of them in scores of commentaries and listings on this blog. Although none of it will come as news to anyone who has spent much time reading our stuff, we cobbled together this commentary to help formalize the process and hopefully make it easier to understand and follow.

If you want to make judgments about recordings — not the pressing you have in your collection, but the actual recording it was made from — you have to do some work, and you have to do it much more thoroughly and carefully and above all scientifically than most audiophiles and record collectors apparently think is necessary.

Don’t be one of those guys. Do it right and get the results that are out of reach with any other approach.

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Duke Ellington – A Drum Is A Woman

More Duke Ellington

  • An early 6-Eye MONO copy of this wonderful musical allegory with INCREDIBLE Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades or close to them throughout
  • The sound is rich and Tubey Magical, yet transparent and spacious in the way that only the best vintage pressings ever are
  • It’s hard to imagine an original pressing playing any quieter than this one does
  • And may I point out for all of your record collectors out there that the worst sounding copy in our shootout was a White Label Promo, which did not even earned Hot Stamper grades on both sides
  • “It was powerful, rhythmic and kaleidoscopic, with a strong vocal anchor at Friday’s performance in Claudia Hamilton, a commanding presence as Madam Zajj.”

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Letter of the Week – “I have never heard such transparent, full-bodied sound on any previous copy.”

Hot Stamper Pressings of The White Album Available Now

One of our good customers had this to say about some Hot Stampers he purchased a while back:

Well, I feel there is little I can say that could do justice to how this copy of the White Album sounds. It is simply mind-blowing! And it’s exactly the kind of sound reproduction that this Masterpiece deserves.

I’ve listened to quite a few pressings of this album before, but I have never heard such a transparent, full-bodied sound on any previous copy. And of course, the White Album is not exactly the most transparent recording to begin with.

Truly marvelous, and a privilege to be able to listen to the best sound of the best music there is!

You guys are real treasure hunters. Many thanks for the great service.

Bogdan P.

Bogdan,

Glad you liked our White Album. It’s amazing how good it sounds once you know which pressings are the good ones and which to avoid.

Hint: it’s the originals are to be avoided, but don’t tell that to the average record collecting audiophile. They will think you’ve lost your mind.

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Lynyrd Skynyrd – Street Survivors

More Southern Rock

  • This vintage copy with the rare “flames” cover was giving us the big and bold sound we were looking for, earning solid Double Plus (A++) grades or BETTER on both sides – fairly quiet vinyl too
  • Forget whatever dead-on-arrival Heavy Vinyl record they’re making these days – if you want to hear the Tubey Magic, size and Southern Rock energy of this surprisingly well recorded album from 1977, an early pressing such as this one is the only way to do it
  • 4 1/2 stars: “… it’s a hell of an album. The band springs back to life with the addition of guitarist Steve Gaines, and Van Zant used the time off the road to write a strong set of songs… If the original band was fated to leave after this record, at least they left with a record that serves as a testament to Skynyrd’s unique greatness.”
  • If you’re a Southern Rock fan, this undeniable classic from 1977 is surely a Must Own

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Steve Winwood – Arc of a Diver

More Records We Only Sell on Import Vinyl

  • This early UK Island pressing boasts two solid Double Plus (A++) sides or close to them – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • Guaranteed to be a huge improvement over anything you’ve heard, this Brit is big, punchy, and full-bodied – Winwood’s leads really soar (particularly on side one)
  • Forget the dubby domestic pressings and whatever crappy Heavy Vinyl record they’re making these days – the UK LPs are the only way to fly on Arc of a Diver
  • 4 1/2 stars: “Utterly unencumbered by the baggage of his long years in the music business, Winwood reinvents himself as a completely contemporary artist on this outstanding album, leading off with his best solo song, ‘While You See a Chance.'”

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Living Stereo Vs. Classic Records

Hot Stamper Pressings of Living Stereo Recordings Available Now

We described a Hot Stamper pressing of Symphonie Fantastique (LSC 2362) we put up not long ago this way:

The size and power of a large orchestra in Living Stereo sound.  The hall is huge, the brass solid and powerful, the top and bottom extends properly, the stage is wide and clear — what more can you ask for? 

So open and spacious, with gorgeous, richly textured strings — this is the VIVID sound we love from the Golden Age!

Classic Records and Their Abysmal String Tone

Of course, this was always the most obvious shortcoming of the Classic Records RCA remasterings — just not obvious to the audiophile press or the audiophiles who bought the records. None of them seemed to notice how the strings of the new pressings never sounded remotely the way they had on the originals and early reissues (reissues which were, unsurprisingly, sometimes better).

Classic’s pressings had bass and dynamics, no one could deny it, but the strings were unusually shrill and smeary, and the hall practically non-existent. (We chalked it up to the bad transistor cutting equipment Bernie was using back then, but how could anyone know for sure what was really going on? All we knew was that most of the classical titles they released did not sound good, so there was simply no need to investigate further.)

We found out some years ago that there was a new series of recuts coming from Acoustic Sounds. Based on their dismal track record, I will be very surprised if they are much better than mediocre.

UPDATE 2024

We finally got one in and put it in a shootout. The results: a passable-at-best side one and a bad sounding side two.

In other words, really not worth the vinyl it’s pressed on. Almost any White Dog or Shaded Dog will beat it (although it should be noted that there are plenty of vintage pressings of the album that don’t sound much better than mediocre. Still, on side two it should be no contest.)

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MoFi Sure Added Plenty of Sparkle to These Acoustic Guitars

Hot Stamper Pressing of the Music of Ry Cooder Available Now

UPDATE 2026

This review is from many years ago, the last time we had a copy of the album in stock to play. Hard to imagine I would not still agree with it though.

As you probably know, the MoFi of Jazz goes for big bucks nowadays — $500 and up. Is it worth it? 

You’ve got to be kidding. It’s a nice record as far as it goes, but it suffers from the same shortcomings as just about every Mobile Fidelity pressing we bother to play these days (with some obvious exceptions of course).

We have a test pressing, and knowing that the MoFi is the standard against which many audiophiles prefer to judge our Hot Stampers, we listened to it first before going about our comparison test.

Our MoFi copy is actually tonally correct, which was a bit of a surprise. (Yours of course could very well be otherwise.)

Right away we could hear exactly what people like about it, the same thing that has always impressed audiophiles about half-speed mastered records: their often outstanding transparency.

Jazz on MoFi has zero-distortion, utterly clear, spacious, see-through sound.

But listen past that and what do you hear?

Don’t those guitars seem to have that MoFi Tea-for-the-Tillerman “sparkly” quality you hate: all pluck and no body, all detail and no solidity?

Nothing has any weight.

Nothing sounds natural.

Nothing sounds real.

It’s pretty, maybe, but it sure ain’t right.

It’s the kind of sound that shouts out to the world “Hey, look at me, I’m an audiophile record! See how I sound? So clear! So clean!”

Which isn’t bad for about two minutes, and then it’s positively insufferable.

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Love – Da Capo

More of the Music of Love

  • This vintage Gold Label pressing was doing practically everything right, with both sides earning killer Nearly Triple Plus (A++ to A+++) grades – just shy of our Shootout Winner
  • The recording quality here is big, rich and Tubey Magical, with lovely breathy vocals and a massive bottom end – thanks, Bruce Botnick!
  • The first Love album is without a doubt the punchiest, liveliest, most powerful recording in the Love catalog (all three albums of it).
  • “… a truly classic body of work, highlighted by the atomic blast of pre-punk rock ‘7 and 7 Is’ (their only hit single), the manic jazz tempos of ‘Stephanie Knows Who,’ and the enchanting ‘She Comes in Colors,’ perhaps Lee’s best composition (and reportedly the inspiration for the Rolling Stones’ ‘She’s a Rainbow’).”

These Nearly White Hot Stamper pressings have top-quality sound that’s often surprisingly close to our White Hots, but they sell at substantial discounts to our Shootout Winners, making them a relative bargain in the world of Hot Stampers (“relative” meaning relative considering the prices we charge). We feel you get what you pay for here at Better Records, and if ever you don’t agree, please feel free to return the record for a full refund, no questions asked.

If you’re looking to demonstrate just how good 1967 All Tube Analog sound can be, this killer copy will do the trick. This Gold Label pressing is spacious, sweet and positively dripping with ambience. Talk about Tubey Magic, the liquidity of the sound here is positively uncanny. This is vintage analog at its best, so full-bodied and relaxed you’ll wonder how it ever came to be that anyone seriously contemplated trying to improve it. (more…)

Cruising With Ruben & The Jets – A Desert Island Disc for Yours Truly

More of the Music of Frank Zappa

  • This early Blue Label Verve LP boasts INSANELY GOOD Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound from first note to last
  • Both sides here are exceptionally clean, clear and present with a big bottom end, an abundance of energy and lots of space around all of the players
  • The new CD – with its modernized sound and wrong-headed re-recorded rhythm tracks – is a bad joke next to the best early pressings
  • “To the unexperienced, songs like ‘Cheap Thrills,’ ‘Deseri,’ and ‘Jelly Roll Gum Drop’ can sound like an average doo wop song. A closer look reveals unusual chord sequences, Stravinsky quotes, and hilariously moronic lyrics — all that wrapped in four-way harmony vocals and linear piano triplets.

Is the thought bubble on the cover the real story behind the album?

Is this the Mothers of Invention recording under a different name in a last ditch attempt to get their cruddy music on the radio?

Amazing sound for this record of greasy love songs and cretin simplicity to offer to audiophiles and music lovers alike from all corners of the world. We absolutely LOVE this album here at Better Records, or at least that portion of Better Records that remembers it from high school still loves it (which would narrow it down to a subset of just me I guess, but who’s counting?).

Anyway, it’s a classic of twisted doo-wop that belongs in your collection, and a real Desert Island Disc for yours truly. At least we think you should give it a chance anyway; hearing it sound this good might just make a believer out of you.

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Is It All About the Music or Is It All About the Sound?

Top Quality Audio Is Key to Finding Good Records

UPDATE 2026

There is a word that better describes the trite phrase I discuss below than “truism” does. You can find it at the end of this commentary.

There is a truism  — a statement that is obviously true and says nothing new or interesting — that frequently pops up in the comments section on audiophile forums.

Working similarly to Godwin’s law, the longer an audiophile thread goes on, the more likely it is to be said. A quick recap of Godwin’s law:

“Godwin’s law, short for Godwin’s law (or rule) of Nazi analogies, is an Internet adage asserting: “As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1.”

The truism I’m talking about is commonly phrased, “It’s the music, stupid,” an echo of James Carville’s “It’s the economy, stupid,” from Bill Clinton’s presidential campaign of 1992. (I prefer not to use the word “stupid” when discussing my fellow audiophiles’ comments, but the play on words does not work without it, so there it is.)

Who would be foolish enough to take up the other side of such an argument, if we can call it that?

Allow me to have a go at it.

So, if I understand correctly, it’s all about the music, right? Not the sound?

What about other kinds of art? What is it about with respect to them?

Christopher Nolan shoots on IMAX film, which in its current iteration is either 65 or 70mm.

If his movies are about a story and its characters, why not shoot them on 35mm? Or 16mm. Or Super 8? Or, gasp, HD-digital?

Same story, same characters.  But would it be the same movie-going experience?

And nobody has trouble understanding that. Here’s Nolan on 70 mm.

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