Top Artists – Santana

Letter of the Week – “…so much more engaging and rich than I was used to.”

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Charles Mingus Available Now

This posting on an audiophile forum was made by our good customer ab_ba who authorized me to print it here. (It started out on Hoffman’s forum but was quickly taken down as the subject of Hot Stampers is verboten. I have added some bolding and italics.)

The title is the author’s.

Better Records Hot Stampers: Or, how I learned to stop collecting and love listening

We are witnessing an absolute explosion in vinyl. It’s thrilling, but it has also become frankly overwhelming.

What matters? The experience of listening, of course. But, how do we know, I mean, how do we really know, what listening experiences are going to be sublime?

Too often, collectability becomes our proxy for listening. We’ve all done it – chasing a near mint early pressing, a Japanese or German pressing, a re-press from a label we trust. We all end up with multiple copies of our favorite records, but only listen to one or two of them. And whether we sell them or not, it brings us some comfort to see their going rates on Discogs continue to climb. For me at least, FOMO was a strange driver of my buying habits. I regretted records I didn’t purchase, far more often than I regretted purchases I did make, even as I have about a year’s worth of listening in records still sealed on the shelf. I’m even afraid to open some of them because I can see their value is rising. Isn’t that silly?

My Philosophy Was Off-Base

I love records. Listening to them, curating a collection, is a joyful hobby. It gets at some need I can’t quite name. But, of course, records shouldn’t be only for collecting. They are for the pleasure of listening. My philosophy was pretty off-base. I didn’t even perceive it that way, and here’s what got me to realize it, and get out of it.

Last summer, I came across an original mono pressing of Mingus Ah Um in one of my local shops. It was labelled as a “top copy” and the surface looked pretty good. The price was a little absurd, and considering I had the [MoFi] OneStep and the Classic Records pressings, I wasn’t sure I needed it. But, this is an album I loved, even as a kid, even on digital, and a first pressing held a lot of allure. I took some time to think about it, do some online comparison shopping, and by the time I got back to the shop, it was gone.

In a fit of pique, I bought the copy Better Records was selling.

It was listed as a Super Hot Stamper, and it was slightly cheaper than the copy the shop was selling. With a 30-day no-questions-asked return policy, it seemed a safe bet.

An Initially Disappointing Hot Stamper Reissue Pressing

Well, you can imagine my disappointment when it arrived a few days later. Nicely boxed for shipping, I unsleeved what was clearly a later pressing. My disappointment magnified when the needle dropped and the first thing I heard was surface noise. I’ve been conditioned by the heavy vinyl renaissance to equate surface noise with a bad-sounding record.

But then, the instruments kicked in, and from the first notes I could tell I was listening to something really different.

It was clear, forward, and dynamic. Nothing harsh, even in the horns, but so much more engaging and rich than I was used to. It was the drum solo partway through the first track that convinced me I was hearing something special in this pressing. I sat and listened to the entire record without doing anything else, and for me, something that holds my attention to where I don’t want to grab my phone or a book is part of what defines a peak listening experience.

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Santana (III) – The Most Tubey Magical Santana Album?

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Santana Available Now

I may be going out on a limb here, but to these ears, the best pressings of Santana’s third album have more Tubey Magic than any other Santana album we’ve ever played.

Tubey Magic in this case means you not only get all the richness, sweetness and three-dimensionality that the term implies, but also amazing transparency.

There’s no smear to the sound, no veil to peer through — you just hear into that huge, deep soundfield of the studio with nothing between you and the musicians.

They’re all right there in the studio together; there’s no question this record is practically a live recording. It has the feel and energy of a recording where everyone is in the room at the same time, much like the first Santana record. That gives the sound AND the music a very special quality that’s hard to create any other way.

A True Demo Disc

This is a true Demo Disc in the world of rock records. It’s also one of those recordings that demands to be played LOUD. If you’ve got the the big room, big speakers, and the power to drive them, you can have a LIVE ROCK AND ROLL CONCERT in your very own house. When Santana lets loose with some of those legendary monster power chords — which incidentally do get good and loud in the mix, unlike most rock records which suffer from compression and “safe” mixes — I like to say that there is no stereo system on the planet that can play loud enough for me. (Horns maybe, but I don’t like the sound of horns, so there you go.)

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Santana – Santana (III)

More of the Music of Santana

  • Excellent sound throughout this vintage Columbia pressing, with both sides earning solid Double Plus (A++) grades or BETTER
  • Remarkable transparency – you hear into the huge, deep soundfield with almost nothing between you and the musicians
  • Surprising amounts of Tubey Magic – some of the best sound this very well-recorded band achieved in the studio
  • Three big hits that sound great here: “No One To Depend On,” “Everybody’s Everything” and “Everything’s Coming Our Way”
  • Problems in the vinyl are sometimes the nature of the beast with these Classic Rock records – there simply is no way around them if the superior sound of vintage analog is important to you
  • 4 1/2 stars: “. . . an album that has aged extremely well due to its spare production (by Carlos and the band) and its live sound. This is essential Santana, a record that deserves to be reconsidered in light of its lasting abundance and vision.”

This is another in the long list of recordings that really comes alive when you turn up your volume.

If you want to bring the funky sound of Latin percussion to life in your living room, this is the ticket. This is one of the most Tubey Magical Santana recording we have ever heard, and at its best it is competitive with Abraxas for the title of Greatest Santana Recording.

Both sides here absolutely destroy the typical pressing, with the kind of huge, wide soundfield and stunning clarity and detail that really bring this music to life!

This pressing is open and spacious, which gives all of the drums and guitars their own space. Santana records live and die by the sonic quality of the drums and percussion, and on this copy they are killer.

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Letter of the Week – “Definitely a very and unexpected high quality.”

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Stephen Stills Available Now

One of our good customers had this to say about Hot Stampers he purchased recently:

Hey Tom, 

Received the LPs today from Stephen Stills and Santana. Definitely a very and unexpected high quality.

I grew up with these LPs. Unfortunately these can no longer be played because of the tobacco of the joints that were left behind.

Our store sells and promotes analog. We sell turntables such as SME, REED, Dohmann and Techdas, etc. http://www.rhapsody.nl

I will definitely promote you to our customers.

Harry

Thanks, Harry, for writing.

These are some great albums, they would sound killer on good equipment and these are the kinds of records that need to be played in stereo showrooms, not the audiophile crap that one hears so much.

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Santana – Caravanserai

More of the Music of Santana

  • Solid Double Plus (A++) sound brings Santana’s 1972 release to life on this vintage Columbia pressing (one of only a handful of copies to ever hit the site)
  • The sonics are rich, full-bodied and musical with punchy drums and guitar solos that really get loud
  • Remarkable transparency – you hear into the huge, deep soundfield with almost nothing between you and the musicians
  • Problems in the vinyl are sometimes the nature of the beast with these vintage LPs – those on “Future Primitive” are especially bad – but if you can tough those out, this copy is going to blow your mind
  • 4 1/2 stars: “…make no mistake: this is one of Santana’s finest accomplishments.

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John Lee Hooker – The Healer

More Electric Blues

  • Here is a vintage copy with STUNNING Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound or close to it throughout
  • On the best pressings like this one, you get something approaching the warmth and unforced clarity of analog we audiophiles crave
  • With Santana, Bonnie Raitt, Los Lobos, Canned Heat and others
  • Four Stars in Rolling Stone: “Brilliant, 100-proof blues… the spirit that animates this album is the ageless voice of John Lee Hooker and his boogie-man blues. He has conjured up a renewed world blues with the canniness of the hoodoo healers and root doctors who first gave birth to the Delta blues.”

These guys (and one gal!) are definitely LIVE in the studio. The amount of studio reverb may be a bit much for some, but we think it works for this music. (more…)

Carlos Santana Knows: The Louder His Guitar Gets, the Better It Sounds

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Santana Available Now

Abraxas is yet another in the long list of recordings that really comes alive when you turn up your volume.

For me, a big speaker guy with a penchant for giving the old volume knob an extra click or two, it just doesn’t get any better than Abraxas.

This is a true Demo Disc in the world of rock records. It’s also one of those recordings that demands to be played LOUD. If you’ve got the the big room, big speakers, and plenty of power to drive them, you can have a LIVE ROCK AND ROLL CONCERT in your very own home.

When Santana lets loose with some of those legendary monster power chords — which incidentally do get good and loud in the mix, unlike most rock records which suffer from compression and “safe” mixes — I like to say that there is no stereo system on the planet that can play loud enough for me. (Horns maybe, but I don’t like the sound of horns, so the point is moot.)

You may have heard me say this before, but it’s important to make something clear about this music. 

It doesn’t even make sense at moderate listening levels. 

Normal listening levels suck the life right out of it. You can tell by the way it was recorded — this music is designed to be played back at LOUD levels, and anything less does a disservice to the musicians, not to mention the listener, you.

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Letter of the Week – “…this pressing truly captures the large and tonally balanced sound like nothing I have ever heard.”

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Santana Available Now

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

Hey Tom, 

Listening to Moonflower now and you are spot on with your review. I have seen Santana in concert a couple of times and this pressing truly captures the large and tonally balanced sound like nothing I have ever heard.

Can’t stop listening : )

Rob

Rob, thanks for your letter. Santana in concert is exactly the sound we look for.

Best, TP

PS

Our Turn It Up Commentary

Santana’s albums, at least the ones we sell as Hot Stamper pressings, are records that only really come alive when you turn up your volume.

Many years ago I used to demonstrate this very effect for my audiophile friends with a shockingly good copy I found back in the late ’90s. I would play the first minute or so of track one at a pretty good level. There’s lots of ambience, there’s a couple of guys who shout things out, there’s a substantial amount of deep bass, and the whole recording has a naturally smooth quality to it (which is precisely what allows you to play it at louder volumes).

Then I would turn it up a notch, say about 2-3 DB. I would announce to my friends that this is probably louder than you will ever play this record, but listen to what happens when you do. The soundstage gets wider and deeper, all those guys that shout can be heard more clearly, you start to really feel that deep bass, and when the song gets going, it REALLY gets going. The energy would be fantastic.

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With Abraxas, MoFi Manages to Disgrace Itself Even Further

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Santana Available Now

The remastered Abraxas never got past the first elimination round; it had to have been one of the worst half-speeds I have ever heard. Dead, dead, dead as a doornail.

Is it the worst version of the album ever made? Hard to imagine it would have much competition.

Santana’s first album on MoFi is a record we admit to having liked a bit when it first came out. Since then we have changed our minds. It’s just too damn compressed and lifeless. The Whomp Factor on this pressing is Zero. Since whomp is critical to the sound of Santana’s music, it’s Game Over for us. The review below is exactly what we wrote at the time the record came in. We tried to like it, but it’s clear to us now that we tried to like it too hard. Please accept our apologies.

I noted in my old blog: “But now I would have to say that the MoFi LP is far too lifeless to be acceptable to anyone, even those with the worst kinds of audiophile BS systems.”

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Santana – Moonflower

More Santana

More Records That Sound Better Loud

  • With INCREDIBLE Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound or close to it on sides two and three, and superb Double Plus (A++) sound on sides one and four, this copy of Santana’s 2-LP live album will be very hard to beat – exceptionally quiet vinyl
  • These sides are rich, full-bodied and Tubey Magical with a big punchy bottom end
  • Turn it up and you will hear sound that is incredibly powerful and natural with remarkable presence, energy and weight down low
  • “Santana, which was renowned for its concert work dating back to Woodstock, did not release a live album in the U.S. until this one… Moonflower went Top Ten and sold a million copies, the first new Santana album to do that since 1972 and the last until Supernatural in 1999.”

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