Author: humorem

Tchaikovsky on UHQR – What Happened to the Colors of the Orchestra?

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Tchaikovsky Available Now

This is what we had to say about the Telarc UHQR back in 2005 or so:

Having played this record all the way through, I can say this about it:

It’s about the most dynamic recording I’ve ever heard.

This was the promise of digital, which, as we all know, was never really delivered. On this record, that promise has been fulfilled. The performance is also one of the best on record. It’s certainly the most energetic I can remember. 

UPDATE 2015

Now that we’ve heard the best pressings of the Alwyn recording on Decca, I would have to say that Alwyn’s is certainly every bit as energetic if not more so, and dramatically better sounding as well.

In other words, in 2005 we had a lot to learn. Boy, did we ever.

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Clarity Has a Price

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Sergio Mendes Available Now

UPDATE 2026

Many years ago we were impressed with the sound of some of the later pressings of Sergio’s albums.

It turns out that we were wrong about those later pressings being better than the early ones, which are the ones we tend to like these days, mostly because our all tube system from the 90s was much darker and dramatically less resolving than the one we use now.

Although we didn’t know it at the time, there was still a long way to go and hundreds of more records to play before we could call our system reasonably accurate. Discovering this cartridge and learning how to tweak it — using the right records — took our playback to a level we had never imagined it could go.

That was about twenty years ago. Before then I was lost as lost could be, something I recognize in my fellow hobbyists, especially the ones who write about records as if it were 1982.

Here is what we liked about the reissues in the 80s and 90s.

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The Glorious Sound of Tubes in 1963

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Thelonious Monk Available Now

UPDATE 2026

In 2018 we put up a killer Hot Stamper pressing of Big Band and Quartet and had a few thoughts about the sound of the best copies we played.

On this record, more than most, the tubes potentially make all the difference. 

Keep in mind that we are referring specifically to 1963 tubes, not the stuff that engineers are using today to make so-called “tube-mastered” records.

Today’s modern records barely hint at the Tubey Magical sound of a record like this, if our experience with hundreds of them is any guide. We, unlike so many of the audiophile reviewers of today, have a very hard time taking any of the new pressings seriously. We think our position is pretty clear, and we have yet to hear more than a stray record or two that would make us want to change our minds.

If you’ve ever heard a pressing that sounds as good as this one, you know there hasn’t been a record manufactured in the last forty years that has this kind of sound.

Right, wrong or otherwise, this sound is simply not part of the modern world we live in.

[Well, not quite, but close.]

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Letter of the Week – “I called off a meeting, poured a whiskey, and let it rip.”

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Bruce Springsteen Available Now

One of our good customers had this to say about a White Hot Stamper pressing he purchased recently:

Dear Tom,

My White Hot Stamper of Born in the USA arrived today.

I called off a meeting, poured a whiskey, and let it rip.

How nice to be able to finally hear one of the albums I’ve listened to the most in my life.

Hearing where the backing vocalists are standing on Darlington County was a revelation.

Aaron

Dear Aaron,

Thanks for your letter.

Yeah, Born in the U.S.A. is a tough one — so much distortion and processing make for a tough shootout!

We would be foolish to make claims for “audiophile quality” sound on Springsteen’s albums — they are what they are. The simple claim we make for our Hot Stampers is that the best of them sound as good as the album can sound, and we back that up with a 100% Money Back guarantee.

Born in the U.S.A. is yet another example of an album that must be graded on a curve.

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Three Copies of Harold in Italy and Still No Luck

Hot Stamper Pressings of Living Stereo Titles Available Now

For a Living Stereo record from the Golden Age of All Tube recording, especially one from the late-50s, you might expect that the better Shaded Dog pressings would have exceptionally rich, natural sound.

After all, 1958 is clearly one of the great years for analog recordings, as evidenced by this amazing group of albums, all recorded or released in that year.

Unfortunately, the pressings we played of the Berlioz album you see pictured were quite a letdown. We dropped the needle on three different early copies of LSC 2228 with three different sets of stampers and found that none of them were all that impressive, as can be seen from our notes:

  • First: tubey but pretty hot, just okay. (6s/3s)
  • Second: smeary and congested, not great. (4s/4s)
  • Third: tubey but smeary (3s/1s)

We guessed that their final grades after a shootout would probably fall into the range of 1+ or so, just below the cutoff for a minimal Hot Stamper grade (1.5+).

If we’d half a dozen or more to play, some copies would probably be a bit better, some would be a bit worse, but the bulk of them would end up having sound that was merely passable, even after a good cleaning. (Without a good cleaning some might not even earn that single plus.)

For now we’re throwing in the towel and moving on to Golden Age records with better prospects.

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Blood, Sweat & Tears – Self-Titled

More of the Music of Blood, Sweat and Tears

  • Here is a superb copy of BS&T’s self-titled LP with Double Plus (A++) sound or close to it throughout
  • The only versions of the album we sell are the 360 originals, but most of the dozen or more stamper numbers we know cannot hold a candle to this pressing
  • The sound is huge, rich, dynamic and powerful (particularly on side two) – BS&T is a permanent member of our Top 100 and a Demo Disc par excellence
  • This is Roy Halee‘s engineering masterpiece, and here’s the kind of pressing that, given the right equipment, room, and setup, really makes our case (also particularly on side two)
  • There are some marks (as is sometimes the nature of the beast with these vintage LPs) on “Variations on a Theme by Erik Satie (1st & 2nd Movements),” but once you hear just how good sounding this copy is, you might be inclined to stop counting ticks and just be swept away by the music
  • 4 1/2 stars: “Their finest moment and a testimony to the best of the jazz/rock movement … The album is bold, brassy and adventurous.”

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David Turner Was Taking Care Of Business in 1978

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Sonny Rollins Available Now

The complete Tenor Madness album is found here, with big, full-bodied, MONO jazz sound at its best, courtesy of the great one, Rudy Van Gelder.

This is what classic 50s jazz is supposed to sound like – they knew how to do these kinds of records forty years ago. Those mastering skills are in short supply nowadays, if not downright extinct.

The transfers from 1978 by David Turner are in tune with the sound of these recordings – there’s not a trace of phony EQ on this entire record.

This Two-Fer includes all of Tenor Madness and most of Work Time and Tour De Force.

Top jazz players such as Ray Bryant, John Coltrane, Red Garland, Kenny Drew, Max Roach and Paul Chambers can be heard on the album.

If you want all the Tubey Magic of the earlier pressings, a top quality pressing of the real Tenor Madness album on Prestige might give you more of that sound.

David Turner’s mastering setup in the 70s has a healthy dose of Tubey Magic, but it can’t compete in that area with the All Tube cutting chains that were making records in the ’50s and ’60s.  Without one of those early pressings around to compare, we don’t think you’re going to feel you are missing out on anything in the sound with best copies.

And where can you find an early Prestige pressing with audiophile playing surfaces like these?   (more…)

The Yellow Submarine Songtrack Did Not Float My Boat

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of The Beatles Available Now

Last year a customer wrote to tell me how much he liked the sound of his 2004 Japanese DMM pressing of the Yellow Submarine Songtrack.

After looking into the background of this album, we saw right from the start that it had three strikes against it.

First off, we rarely like Japanese pressings outside of those that were recorded in Japan, such as the direct to disc jazz and classical records we’ve done shootouts for. Other Japanese pressings we like were recorded in the states for the Japanese market: the jazz direct to discs on East Wind come to mind.

Secondly, we avoid DMM pressings whenever possible. They often add what seems to us like digital artifacts to the sound.

And lastly, we rarely like modern remixes, especially modern remixes that obviously use digital processes of various kinds. The remixed Abbey Road is a complete disaster. Nothing that comes out of Abbey Road these days should be expected to sound good. Their work is a disgrace.

So rather than buy the Japanese-pressed version of the album, we cheaped out and just bought a UK one for half the price.

We half-expected the worst and that’s pretty much what we found.

I used to sell this very version of the album back in 1999 when it came out. I thought it sounded just fine.

That was about twenty years ago. My all tube system was darker and dramatically less resolving than the one I have now.

Scores of improvements have been made since then to every aspect of analog reproduction, something we discuss endlessly on this blog.

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Blind Faith – Self-Titled

More of the Music of Eric Clapton

  • The band’s debut LP, here with solid Double Plus (A++) grades throughout this original UK Polydor pressing
  • From the moment we dropped the needle and heard all that fluffy, correct-sounding tape hiss, we knew we were in for a treat – the sound on both sides is punchy, open, spacious, big, bold, and alive!
  • If you doubt this record can sound as good as you remember from back in the day, assuming you are an old goat like me, this pressing will be a revelation
  • There are some bad marks (as is sometimes the nature of the beast with these Classic Rock records) on “Had to Cry Today,” but once you hear just how excellent sounding this copy is, you might be inclined, as we were, to stop counting ticks and just be swept away by the music
  • 4 stars: “Blind Faith’s first and last album, more than 30 years old [make that 57 years old] and counting, remains one of the jewels of the Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, and Ginger Baker catalogs. . . it merges the soulful blues of the former with the heavy riffing and outsized song lengths of the latter for a very compelling sound unique to this band.”
  • If you’re a Classic Rock fan, this band’s debut from 1969 is an absolute Must Own, especially when it sounds as good as this copy does

Here is the Blind Faith you’ve been waiting for: Tubey Magical, transparent, full of life and energy — dear friends, it’s all here.

Sick of buying one harsh, thin, distorted, veiled, closed-in, smeary LP after another in a vain attempt to find a copy that reminds you of why you loved this record so much when it came out back in 1969?

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Falla / Three-Cornered Hat / Argenta

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Falla Available Now

In our review from 2010, we wrote:

Falla’s Three Cornered Hat is positively WONDERFUL on this copy (A++), and the Sinfonia Sevillana by Turina on side two is every bit as good. The second suite on side one is particularly lovely — check out how rich and full the sound is.

Side two has a HUGE soundstage, as wide as they come. The sound is very rich and full of audiophile colors — this is the kind of record that you’re going to love playing for your audio pals!  

Argenta brings the authentic Spanish flavor out in these works. Like so many audiophile reviewers have over the years, you may find these performances definitive.

The strings on the first side are a bit dry to start, like the sound many of you will recognize from Mercury’s classical records. Still, there’s much to like about the sound and you’ll have a very hard time finding a copy that’s any better. Most pressings do not have such an extended top end, and that quality here really brings this music to life.

UPDATE 2025

We played a copy of CS 6050 not long ago and were not at all pleased with the sound. You can read more about it here.

An orchestral record with dry strings? Not our idea of good sound.

But who else reviewing records these days even notices these kinds of things?

The De Burgos performance for EMI in 1964 and the Ansermet for Decca from 1961 (CS 6224) are both better recordings and our two current favorites, with the Ansermet getting the nod due to its wonderful energy and exciting performance.

There are about 150 orchestral recordings we think offer the best performances with the highest quality sound. Both are  deserving of a place on that list.

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