Composers

Another Fine Entry for Our Heavy Vinyl Hall of Shame

Hot Stamper Pressings of Orchestral Spectaculars Available Now

UPDATE 2026

It just so happens that I had the time to listen to this work from start to finish twice just last night, 2/11/2026. Saw it performed live just a few months back at Atlanta Symphony Hall.

This wonderful work never gets old.  Next time we do a shootout for the performance we like with Muti on EMI I hope you will see your way to picking up a copy. You won’t regret it.

The Classic Records repressings of Pictures at an Exhibition — whether at 33, 45, or any other speed, on one disc or four –are all godawful sounding.

(Yes, we have auditioned both versions, for as long as we could stand them, which wasn’t long as the sound was painfully bad. The details can be found below.)

Everything that was bad about the worst original Shaded Dog pressings not only hasn’t been fixed, it’s been made even worse!

Yes, we admit to having played a good pressing of LSC 2201 in 2024, but there are just too many bad pressings of the album to bother doing a shootout for it. It’s hard to justify the cost when so few have the sound we are looking for.

The shrillness, the hardness, the sourness, the loss of texture to the strings, the phony boosted deep bass — this is the kind of sound that makes my head hurt and my skin crawl. After a minute or two of listening to sound this bad I’ve had it.

And can you believe that HP put this miserable remastered pressing on his TAS Super Disc List? Sad but true.

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Side One Had Tubey Colorations Missing from Side Two

Hot Stamper Pressings of Vintage Columbia Albums Available Now

An undiscovered gem from 1967 on the 360 Columbia label.

Side two of this record blew our minds with its White Hot Stamper sound.

Musically and sonically this record is nothing short of wonderful.

Who knew? You could play fifty vintage piano recordings and not find one as good as this.

Tchaikovsky, Liszt, Beethoven, Debussy, Mozart — these shorter pieces and excerpts were composed by those with the greatest gift for melody, men who’ve produced works that have stood the test of time, enchanting audiences over the centuries with works of such beauty and charm.

Here at Better Records we have never been fans of Columbia classical LPs. To be clear, the fault more often than not has to be in the mastering, not the recording. We’ve raved about so many great copies of titles in the past, only to find that the next three or four LPs we pick up of the very same titles sound godawful.

There are some amazing Bernstein recordings out there, but the amount of work it takes to find the one that sounds good is overwhelming — how can such great recordings be mastered so poorly so often?

Side One

A++, with a huge, rich, sweet, natural sounding piano. The more you listen, the more apparent it becomes that, as natural as it may seem at first blush, there are still some old school tubey colorations that make the sound not quite as lifelike as one might wish.

And the confirmation of that finding comes as soon as you flip the record over.

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Beethoven – Symphony No. 7 / Solti

More of the Music of Beethoven

  • Solti and the Vienna Phil’s commanding performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 (CS-6777) debuts on the site with big, spacious, and lively Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound or close to it throughout this vintage London pressing
  • It’s also fairly quiet at Mint Minus Minus, a grade that even our most well-cared-for vintage classical titles have trouble playing at
  • These sides are doing practically everything right – they’re rich, clear, undistorted, open, and has depth and transparency to rival the best recordings you may have heard
  • The texture on the strings is captured perfectly – this is an area in which modern pressings fail utterly, and without good string reproduction, especially in the lower registers, a Beethoven symphony is simply not a pleasurable experience on highly resolving equipment

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Overtures in Hi-Fi / Wolff

More Imported Pressings on Decca and London

  • This vintage London Stereo pressing was doing practically everything right, with both sides earning KILLER Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades
  • It’s also fairly quiet at Mint Minus Minus, a grade that even our most well-cared-for vintage classical titles have trouble playing at
  • Both of these sides are big, clear, rich, dynamic, transparent and energetic, and will surely put to shame any pressing of the album you own
  • Although not long, every second is packed with color and energy, exactly what a good overture needs (And it even has a glockenspiel! How can you go wrong?)
  • Also notable is the choice of material, with a few of the more obscure overtures really brought to life here, such as the opening piece by Adam on side one: “Si j’etais roi”

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The Bloated Cello Sound Some Find Appealing

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Claude Debussy Available Now

UPDATE 2026

We made a crack about the Starker Mercury recordings below which we gernerally no longer agree with, although I am sure there are some pressings which have bloated sound. Those are the ones that don’t win shootouts.

On this pressing we were a bit surprised at how natural the cello sounded — more like the real instrument and less like the typical recording of it. 

Normally when recording the cello, the microphones are placed fairly close to the instrument. This often results in what’s known as the “proximity effect,” which simply describes a boost in the lower frequencies relative to the more linear response of the microphone when placed at a distance.

The famous Starker cello recordings on Mercury — you know the ones, the originals and even the reissues sell for hundreds and hundreds of dollars — suffer from this effect, which audiophiles seem to prefer. (The Mercury heavy vinyl reissues, at least the ones I’ve played, were ridiculously fat and bloated in the bottom.)

Audiophiles did not seem to mind much, judging by the apparently strong sales and the rave reviews I read. Bass shy systems, and that means most of the systems owned by audiophiles, probably benefited from the bass boost.

Systems with lots of large woofers — at least in our case — would of course make the sound of these pressings positively unbearable. That indeed was our experience.

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Delibes / Coppelia – A Superb Mono Pressing from 1957

Hot Stamper Pressings of Music Conducted by Ansermet Available Now

UPDATE 2026

This is a very old commentary so take it for what it’s worth. We no longer buy mono pressings of orchestral recordings from the golden age. The best stereo pressings are just so much better.

The stereo set (CSA 2201) came out in 1958. We appreciate the sound quality that stereo makes possible after having heard the mono.

However, there is nothing wrong with the recording, which was made for both stereo and mono in 1957.

In fact, 1957 just happens to be a wonderful year for analog recordings, as evidenced by this amazing group of albums, all recorded or released in that year.

DEMO QUALITY SOUND for this early London Mono pressing. 

Side one of this record sounds incredible! The sound is absolutely top notch. Check out the brass — it has the solid weight of the real thing.

This is the kind of record that the mono cartridge owners of the world worship. And for good reason. But you don’t need to have a mono cartridge to hear how good — in fact, how much BETTER — this copy sounds than the stereo pressing.

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Beethoven / Symphony No. 5 / Ansermet

More of the Music of Beethoven

  • A vintage London pressing of this superb performance of Beethoven’s legendary 5th, here with KILLER Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound or close to it from first note to last
  • It’s also fairly quiet at Mint Minus Minus, a grade that even our most well-cared-for vintage classical titles have trouble playing at
  • The texture on the strings is captured perfectly – this is an area in which modern pressings fail utterly, and without good string reproduction, especially in the lower registers, a Beethoven symphony is simply not a pleasurable experience on highly resolving equipment
  • Clear, transparent, natural – throw this one on your turntable and your ability to suspend disbelief will require practically no effort at all
  • Guaranteed to put to shame any Heavy Vinyl pressing of orchestral music you own or your money back

Everything sounds so right on this record, so much like live music, there is practically nothing to say about the sound other than you are there.

This is the kind of record that will make you want to take all your heavy vinyl classical pressings and put them in storage. Practically none of them will ever begin to sound the way this record sounds. Some of the worst of them can be found here.

Quality record production is a lost art, and it’s been lost for a very long time. (more…)

Bernstein – The Music of Leonard Bernstein / Rogers

More Orchestral Spectaculars

  • A STUNNING pressing with Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound or close to it throughout – a true Orchestral Demo Disc from 1970
  • Here is a vintage London Phase 4 import pressing with INCREDIBLE Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades or close to them on both sides – a true Orchestral Demo Disc from 1961
  • The Symphonic Dances from “West Side Story” sound stunning here – big, rich and Tubey Magical
  • The performances are wonderful – energetic yet lyrical when the score requires it
  • Vibrant orchestrations, top quality sound and fairly quiet surfaces combine for an astounding listening experience
  • We’ve identified a number of Orchestral Demo Discs of superior quality, and they can be found here

This London Phase 4 British import has some of the most spectacular sound we have ever heard reproduced from disc. The sound is so BIG and BOLD that it handily puts to shame 95% or more of all the Golden Age Shaded Dogs, London Bluebacks, Mercury Living Presences, EMIs and Deccas we’ve ever played. If we had a Classical Top 100 list, this record would belong in the Top Ten, right near the top judging by what we heard when we played it.

If you have a system with the speed, power, and size to play this record properly (yes, you will need all three and a whole lot more), it’s hard to imagine it would not qualify as one of the best sounding orchestral recordings you’ve ever heard.

Demo Disc barely begins to do it justice. What sound. What music. What a record!

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“We could appreciate every tiny decision Heiftez was making. When the orchestra came in, it was thunder.”

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Tchaikovsky Available Now

A good customer wrote us the following letter. It’s mostly about the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto and The Wall.  (Emphasis added.)

Dear Tom,

The next best thing to a big pile of Better Records is a friend with a big pile of Better Records.

Last night my good buddy Bill came over with a selection from his recent spate of hot stamper purchases.

You remember Bill, right? He’s the friend who knew I was into stereos, so he came over for some advice about how to assemble a top of the line modern digital playback system.

I played him my White Hot Stamper of Rumours, he buried his face in his hands, and took a deep plunge into building himself a Port-recommended vinyl playback rig, and he’s now a Better Records aficionado.

First up, we played his White Hot Stamper of the Tchaikovsky violin concerto. It was magnificent. We could appreciate every tiny decision Heiftez was making. When the orchestra came in, it was thunder.

Then, we played my Super Hot Stamper. Same stamper, and mine had quieter vinyl, but man, the sound just wasn’t the same. Mine was more shrill (but slightly), and the orchestra was less meaty (but slightly.) I’ve always loved my copy, still do, but the White Hot Stamper clearly improved on it. We were simply hearing more music.

I know a lot of people say they have great sounding records. For anybody who thinks they may have stumbled across a hot stamper out in the wild, I have one simple test: turn it up. If it’s a true White Hot Stamper, you just want to keep turning up the volume. If you get to the point where you say, “actually, that’s a little too loud. Let me just dial it back a little. Ah, that’s better.” Well then, you don’t have a hot stamper on your hands. White Hot Stampers just invite you to play them loud. There’s no limit, they just cohere without getting shrill or strident. It’s a truly strange effect, and until you hear it for yourself, you won’t believe me.

Next up, we put on Bill’s White Hot Stamper of The Wall. Very loud, of course.

It was probably the best my stereo has ever sounded.

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Gershwin – Concerto In F / Cuban Overture / Wild / Fiedler

More of the Music of George Gershwin

  • Both sides of this original Shaded Dog pressing were giving us the big and bold Living Stereo sound we were looking for on these wonderful orchestral pieces, earning solid Double Plus (A++) grades or BETTER
  • It’s also fairly quiet at Mint Minus Minus, a grade that even our most well-cared-for vintage classical titles have trouble playing at
  • If you love the sound of a big bass drum, the Concerto in F is the work for you, and the engineers know how to capture both the bass and the space surrounding it
  • The rich, textured sheen of the strings that Living Stereo made possible in the 50s and early 60s is clearly evident throughout these pieces, something that the Heavy Vinyl crowd will never experience, because that sound just does not exist on modern repressings
  • Everything that is wrong with the low-res Classic reissue – boosted mids, strings lacking in texture and sheen, etc. – is nowhere to be found on these superb sides, overflowing with Living Stereo Tubey Magic from 1962
  • This is yet another Must Own orchestral recording from 1962
  • For a more complete list, the highest quality recordings of piano concertos that we’ve auditioned to date can be found here

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