Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of 10cc Available Now
I haven’t run into many audiophiles who own a copy of The Original Soundtrack, or any other 10cc album for that matter.
It’s the rare person who has the the kind of system that can play a recording with such explosive dynamics.
As I have an uncontrollable habit of saying, this is the kind of record that is guaranteed to bring any audiophile stereo to its knees.
Since that is the case, and audiophiles who build the kind of big systems in heavily-treated custom rooms to meet the challenge such recordings present are thin on the ground — very thin it seems, as I am the only one I have ever known — it stands to reason that practically no audiophiles have ever experienced the size and power of the recording as it was meant to be heard.
I thought I was doing a very good job reproducing the sound of the album, but recent research has proved that, once again, I was mistaken. Previously I had written:
The recording itself is a tour de force, the main reason I’ve been demonstrating my stereo with it for more than thirty years. The extended suite that opens side one, One Night in Paris, has ambience, three-dimensional sound effects, and incredibly dynamic multi-tracked vocals at the climax that will leave you with your jaw on the floor.
All true. But I had been playing both domestic pressings and British pressings over the course of those thirty years, and I don’t remember clearly preferring one to the other.
With our latest shootout the British pulled away from the pack in a big way, with no British pressing being beaten by any domestic competitor.
The domestic pressings ranged from very good — 2+ on both sides — to passable at best — 1+ on both sides.
I honestly used to think they were close, that they would be hard to tell apart. Those days are gone. We are operating at a whole ‘nother level, and I am glad that we are. We want to give out only the most accurate information and sell only the best sounding records. What I had thought was true ten years ago turns out to have been off the mark.
When reality turns out to be dramatically different from what you thought it was, and you can prove it — you actually have the physical records to back up your newer, more correct understanding — that’s audio progress.
You might try proving yourself wrong more often.
Most audiophiles I have run into like having their biases confirmed, but look where that has gotten some of them — stuck in a rut. Break out of that way of thinking and you may very well find that you have broken through to another level.
Because if you don’t go out of your way to prove yourself wrong, who will?
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