Top Engineers

Music From Big Pink – EMI Centennial Reviewed

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of The Band Available Now

Sonic Grade: At the time: B?

Now: C or D

[I believe this review is from the mid- to late-90s.]

This is the EMI Centennial version we sold years ago for close to thirty bucks. I thought at the time the MFSL Gold CD was better. Now, after many stereo changes, I realize the Gold CD is actually fat in the midbass and a little thick and sucked out in the midrange. (MFSL’s, and quite a few others’, standard audiophile EQ.)

I know this because the EMI LP is correct in those areas and shows you how truly wonderful the recording is. If only it had more bass. Who knows? Between the music and the sound you may not even miss it.

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The Body and Soul of Freddie Hubbard on Speakers Corner

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Freddie Hubbard Available Now

UPDATE 2026

This is a very old review, probably from the 90s, and one we would likely no longer agree with. It’s been a long time since we played any Speakers Corner record and thought it much better than passable.

An outstanding Freddie Hubbard straight ahead jazz album on Speakers Corner vinyl that belongs in any jazz lover’s collection. 

Further Reading

Here are some of our reviews and commentaries concerning the many Heavy Vinyl pressings we’ve played over the years, well over 200 at this stage of the game.

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The Nutcracker on Speakers Corner

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Tchaikovsky Available Now

Sonic Grade: B?

Not sure if we would still agree with what we wrote back in the ’90s when this record came out, but here it is anyway.

Superb! New records just don’t sound any better! This is the complete Nutcracker Ballet as conducted by Ansermet for Decca, a record that sets a standard of performance and sound that is unlikely ever to be equaled, and almost certainly not to be surpassed.

For those of you on a budget, if you can get your hands on one of these for a reasonable price, the Heavy Vinyl reissue would not be a bad way to go.

That’s assuming the copy you buy sounds at least good, similar to the one I played all those years ago, something that cannot be assumed.

But it would make for a good jumping off point.

A Must Own Classical Record (on Vintage Vinyl)

Ansermet breathes life into this ballet as only he can, and the Decca engineering team led by Kenneth Wilkinson do him proud.

It’s an Orchestral Spectacular that should have a place of honor in any audiophile’s collection.

Others that belong in that category can be found here.

The First Classic Record We Ever Played – Thus Spake Zarathustra

Hot Stamper Pressings of Living Stereo Titles Available Now

Way back in 1994, long before we had anything like the system we do now, we were finding fault with the “Classic Records Sound.”

With each passing year — 28 32 and counting — we like that sound less.  Some Classic Records pressings may be on Harry’s TAS list — disgraceful but true — but that certainly has no bearing on whether or not they are very good records. 

I had a chance to play LSC 1806 (pictured above) not long ago and I was dumbfounded at how bright, shrill and aggressive it was.

I still remember playing my first Classic Records title, their first release, which would probably have been in 1994. The deep bass of the organ at the start of Also Sprach Zarathustra, the horns and the tympani blasting out from a dead silent background, put a lump in my throat. Had they actually managed to remaster these old recordings so well that the vintage pressings I was selling for such high prices would soon be worthless? I really do remember having that thought race through my mind.

But then the strings came in, shrieking and as bright as the worst Angel or DG pressing I’d ever heard. It was as if somebody had turned the treble control up on my preamp two or three clicks, into ear-bleeding territory. All my equipment at the time was vintage and tube, and even though my system erred on the dark side tonally, the first Classic release was clearly off the charts too bright and transistory, with none of the lovely texture and sheen that RCA was famous for in the early days of Living Stereo.

I knew right then that my vintage record business was safe.

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Bryan Ferry – Bete Noire

More of the Music of Bryan Ferry and Roxy Music

  • Bete Noire returns to the site for the first time in years, here with INCREDIBLE Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades or close to them throughout this early Reprise pressing
  • Both sides of this hit-packed 1987 Ferry LP are big, rich and tubey – dramatically fuller than practically all of the others we played
  • “Kiss & Tell” and “The Right Stuff” are two of the bigger bangers here, and they both sound the way they should – big and clear
  • 4 stars: “Bete Noire sparkles as the highlight of Ferry’s post-Roxy solo career… Here, his trademark well-polished heartache strikes a fine balance between mysterious moodiness and dancefloor energy…”

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“I find myself just wanting to go back to a Hot Stamper regardless of the artist or genre.”

Hot Stamper Pressings of Jazz Piano Recordings Available Now

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

Gotta tip my cap to you folks. You have been blowing my mind with some amazing sound. Disc after disc. To the point where I am now having a love-hate relationship with my hot stampers due to the fact they’ve practically rendered the bulk of my 200+ record collection considerably less enjoyable to listen to.

Every time I listen to a ‘modern’ reissue now, even the good ones, I don’t necessarily dislike it—many of them are great—but they’re not the same and I find myself just wanting to go back to a hot stamper regardless of the artist or genre.

All I want is that sound. I can’t get enough of it.

I’ve got some incredible reissues too. From music matters jazz to Impex 1-steps. Lucky enough to even have a couple MMJ on their SRX vinyl as well. And boy is that quiet. Almost digital, it’s creepy. And it is great sound by today’s ‘normal’ standards.

But now that I’ve heard what kind of mind-blowing sound is actually possible, well, these are not that.

Close—and better than MANY of the alternatives—but no cigar.

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Miles Davis – Filles de Kilimanjaro

More of the Music of Miles Davis

  • With KILLER Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades on both sides, this copy is certainly as good as we have ever heard
  • A tough shootout, as no other copy earned a 3+ grade on either side, which simply means that when you find a top copy, it sets such a high standard that everything else ends up getting marked down
  • This Columbia 360 Label LP boasts rich, full-bodied, clear sound with the space and three-dimensionality that was difficult to find on the later pressings we played
  • Marks in the vinyl are sometimes the nature of the beast with these early pressings – there simply is no way around them if the superior sound of vintage analog is important to you
  • 4 1/2 stars: “… this middle ground between the adventurous bop of the mid-60s and the fusion of the late-60s is rewarding in its own right, since it’s possible to hear great musicians find the foundation of a new form. For that alone, Filles de Kilimanjaro is necessary listening.”

This is one of the all-time classic progressive jazz albums, and a copy like this allows you to appreciate the contributions of Miles and his top-notch band (Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Tony Williams and the great Ron Carter on most of the songs). This one’s not as “out there” as Bitches Brew, but it gives you a taste of the various directions these guys would take in the years to come.

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Kenny Loggins – Celebrate Me Home

More of the Music of Loggins and Messina

  • This vintage copy was doing practically everything right, earning INCREDIBLE Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades or close to them from top to bottom
  • Both sides here are rich, full and Tubey Magical with a massive bottom end and lots of space around the instruments
  • It’s also one of the only Loggins solo albums we’ve ever liked; it’s a favorite from back in the day
  • 4 stars: “Loggins is in good form throughout the record, and if even only the title track entered his readily-acknowledged canon, this has a fine, sustained mood: a soft late 70s vibe that makes it a nice artifact of its time, as well as one of his stronger records, as illustrated by its platinum status — something it achieved without any blockbuster singles.”

This killer copy shows you just how good this record can sound, which is surprisingly good, considering how many copies of the album are just plain awful. Finally, most of the grit, grain, and transitory opacity have fallen away, leaving in its place the rich, full-bodied and Tubey Magical 70s sound one would expect.

As obvious as it may sound (especially to anyone on this site), the master tape is a whole lot better than the average copy of the record would have you believe. This copy is proof positive. Without a doubt this is one of the best pressings of the album we have ever heard.

The better copies take top honors for rhythmic energy and real frequency extension both high and low. Most copies have no real top end; if you own one give it a listen and we think you’ll agree with us.

Great bass, plenty of Tubey Magic, clarity and richness — practically no other copy in our shootout could do what this one was doing.

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Wildflowers – Sometimes the Hits Are Mastered from Sub-Generation Tapes…

More of the Music of Judy Collins

And there’s not much you can do about it.

Both Sides Now, the Top Ten hit that finally put Judy on the map, is clearly made from a copy tape and doesn’t sound as good as the songs that follow it on side two. Hey, it happens, and I suspect it happens more often than most audiophiles think. I would wager that back in the day most people who bought this album never even noticed.

One thing I’ve noticed about audiophiles over the years is that they’re pretty much like most people.

The difference of course is that they call themselves audiophiles, and audiophiles are supposed to care about sound quality.

They may care about it, but are they capable of evaluating high quality sound? What is the evidence for the affirmative in this proposition?

Are they actually capable of critical listening?

Do they listen critically enough to notice a dubby track on an otherwise good sounding record when they hear it?

Or dubby sound in general?

Or to notice that one side of a record often sounds very different from another?

Or that some reissues sound better than the originals of the album?

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Bryan Ferry / In Your Mind

More of the Music of Roxy Music

  • In Your Mind makes its Hot Stamper debut with KILLER Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades or close to them on both sides of this original UK import pressing – fairly quiet vinyl too
  • May I point out that the copy with the Shootout Winning stampers had exactly the same stampers as the copy that came in last in our shootout?
  • If such an unlikely thing strikes you as odd, please go the blog and read about the scores of other shootout titles for which this was true
  • The stampers are one thing, the sound of the pressing on the turntable is another
  • The sound is big and rich, the vocals breathy and immediate, and you will not believe all the space and ambience – which of course are all qualities that Heavy Vinyl records have far too little of, and the main reason we have lost all respect for the bulk of them
  • A personal favorite, one that I have easily played more than a hundred times
  • We were never able to complete a shootout for it back in the day — the blog has that story — but thankfully things have changed
  • “In Your Mind still burns more fiercely than both the later solo and group albums, at least on certain tracks – like Siren, it balances between rockier and smoother paths, most often favoring the former. Ferry’s lyrics remain in his own realm of intelligent, romantic dissipation, and are some of his best efforts.”

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