Hot Stamper Pressings of Pictures at an Exhibition
More on Mussorgsky’s (and Ravel’s) Masterpiece – Pictures at an Exhibition
Sonic Grade: F
Classic Records Repress at 33, 45, or any other speed
A Hall of Shame pressing and a Heavy Vinyl Disaster if there ever was one (and oh yes, there are plenty).
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 skin crawl. After a minute or two I’ve had it.
HP put this on his TAS List? Sad but true.
What do you get with Hot Stampers compared to the Classic Heavy Vinyl reissue? Dramatically more warmth, sweetness, delicacy, transparency, space, energy, size, naturalness (no boost on the top end or the bottom, a common failing of anything on Classic); in other words, the kind of difference you almost ALWAYS get comparing the best vintage pressings with their modern remastered counterparts, in our experience anyway. (more…)