*We Get Letters

Do we ever! More than 430 as of last count. Please to enjoy.

“It’s great to hear a copy of this record that does the music justice.”

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Richard Thompson Available Now

One of our good customers years ago had this to say about a Hot Stamper pressing of Shoot Out the Lights he’d purchased:

Hey Tom,   

Recently purchased The Hot Stamper of R&L Thompson’s Shoot Out The Lights. What a wonderful copy! Easily put to shame the copies I have on hand by a long shot. It’s great to hear a copy of this record that does the music justice. An exceptional find on your part. Great doing business with you.

Jim S.

Jim,

Glad to hear you liked the copy we sent you as much as we did. We love the album and wish more audiophiles would give it a try. It is a truly extraordinary recording.

With very special recordings like this one, if you turn up your volume good and loud, you will surely be amazed at how dynamic the guitar solos are. I wrote about just such an experience I had many years ago.

I’ve seen Richard Thompson on a number of occasions over the years, and as loud as my stereo will play, which is pretty darn loud, I’ve never been able to make his guitar solos 20 dB louder than everything else, because they’re simply not on the record that way. That’s why live music can’t be reproduced faithfully in the home: the dynamic contrasts are much too great for the typical listener, or his stereo. 

Having said that, when you actually do turn this record up, way up, you get the feeling of hearing live music, and that’s not easy to do.

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“Un******believable that any record could sound that good.”

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of America Available Now

One of our good customers had this to say about some Hot Stamper pressings he purchased not long ago, one of which was the album you see pictured: America’s debut.

Hey Tom, 

I want to tell you I bought America’s 1st LP from you some couple of years back. White Hot designation at that time. I don’t know if you have found one better since then.

Paid big dollars and I still cannot believe the sound. Worth every penny. 

When I play that LP, I cannot avoid getting goose bumps or getting totally enveloped with the music. The guitars and vocals are flat out surreal.

It is just as amazing as the Eagles 1st LP Hot Stamper. Un******believable that any record could sound that good.

Bill 

Bill,

Thanks for your letter. I know exactly what you mean. In 1971 or 1972, while still in high school, I got my first copy of America and it quickly became a record I could not get enough of. Only later would I learn from my friend Robert Pincus that it was a landmark pressing in the world of Hippie Folk Rock, a genre that makes up much of the music I listen to these days.

We’ve been promoting the idea that music does the driving for more years than I can remember. Much of what drove me was acoustic folk rock, the kind of music I fell in love with when Crosby, Stills and Nash released their first album in 1969. I credit many of those albums with helping me (later us) improve the quality of our playback.

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We Would Never Choose a Different Sound for Tom Petty than the One He Chose for Himself

Advice on Developing Your Critical Listening Skills

One of our good customers wrote to us about the trouble he has been having getting Bella Donna to sound less “cold, steely, sharp, harsh and edgy.”

I believe this comment was originally left on Robert Brook’s blog. I thought it merited a serious response, mostly a defense of why it’s important that some records must sound the way they do whether we like that sound or not.

Peter’s post:

I am sure I do not judge records like you do. I regard listening as relaxation – while your opinion leaders Tom Port and also Robert Brooks never stop to emphasize that the “real men” never lean back and always keep searching for the next 1 percent in sound quality. That’s too fatiguing for me, I am just too lazy.

Peter, a few thoughts:

I should right off the bat that we have never looked for, nor found, a 1% improvement. We’ve found 10%, 20%, 30%, and we’ve found it many, many times over. The difference between the way our system sounds now and the way it did even five or ten years ago is huge.

Look at Robert Brook and how far he has come in five years. He would say his system now is two or three times better. 200% or 300% better. That’s what it feels like when you make the big breakthroughs. Sometimes you can go years without a breakthrough, but then you make one and find out just how much farther you could go.

I do have a special allergy for sharp, edgy, metallic, electronically distorted, or grainy sound. This means that – when e.g., the vocals sound natural and breathy and the music sounds fresh, energetic and lively I am already very happy – and prepared to sacrifice other ” goodies” like ultimate detail, space and air or the very low notes. All ’n all, I am very happy with most of my BR purchases.

There are a few BR purchases that I cannot get to sound “right.”  The most striking example is Stevie Nicks “Bella Donna.”

I have tried many things. I have changed the turntable, tonearm, cartridge, phono pre-amp, cabling and VTA. Whatever I try, her voice and the lead guitar continue to sound cold, steely/sharp, harsh and edgy. Stevie’s voice on this record is SO different from her voice on “Rumours” that she seems to be another person (my copy of “Rumours” is not a BR pressing but a very nice sounding first “Los Angeles” pressing).

Bella Donna is the key to the problem in my view. What you have in Bella Donna is the kind of recorded sound that, when played back on your system, you find not to your taste. You want the sound of Rumours, but Bella Donna will never have that sound.

Shelly Yakus and Jimmy Iovine make edgy, lively records. Stevie Nicks wanted that sound for her first solo album and that is what she got. The album went to Number One on the Billboard chart and has been certified 4x Platinum by the RIAA. Audiophiles were not the intended audience. People liked the sound of the hits they heard on the radio, so they went out and bought her record. They were no doubt very pleased with their purchase.

The lively, edgy sound is also the one Tom Petty wanted for his records, which was an equally wise move on his part because the records he made with their help sold in the millions too. Here is an excellent example of what I am talking about. I have no problem admitting that I couldn’t play his records right until about 2014 or so, this after being in audio for forty years.

Tom Petty likes clear and lively, not rich and smooth. Our best copies get that sound right. We would never choose a different sound for Tom Petty than the one he chose for himself.

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“closed my eyes and wow – Neil was in my living room”

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Neil Young Available Now

One of our good customers had this to say about a Hot Stamper pressing of Zuma he purchased recently:

Tom,

I have purchased a few Hot Stampers in the past, and recently purchased my first Super Hot Stamper of Zuma.

The sound is amazing!

I’ve been patiently building my system around yours (still need an EAR 324), used the Talisman, cranked up the vintage Japanese low wattage receiver and VPI SDS, put the vinyl on the TT Weights carbon mat that is sitting on the original Aries with the Tri-Planar, which sits on the Aurios, closed my eyes and wow – vintage Neil was in my living room – see attached photo (I know the Focus are way too close to the wall – my space is extremely limited right now)!

Still do not understand why all those who like to complain about Better Records do not give it a shot given the 30 day return policy. They are missing out and will never know!

Ryan,

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How Many White Hot Stamper Pressings Are There?

What’s the Big Idea?

Our good customer Aaron recently wrote to us about the concept of records with one set of stampers that always wins shootouts. Most of the discussion involves a lot of “inside baseball” stamper talk which may be of little interest to some of you.

Stamper numbers and shootouts are pretty much all we do here at Better Records, so I was happy to take the time to speculate about aspects of both. There are more than 100 commentaries about mastering on the blog for those who may be interested in digging deeper.

As always, we encourage audiophiles to be more skeptical about anything and everything they may think they know about records.

Aaron writes:

I’m pretty obsessed with your “one stamper wins” section. What a fascinating phenomenon. Having compared notes with Bill, I know that sometimes different stampers DO win. This leads me to wonder, how many white hot stampers are out there?

Across all the titles you do, what’s the range? I think it could be a few dozen for some titles, and a few thousand for others. Would love to hear your thoughts.

My long-winded reply as well as my answers to further questions:

You’re asking how many actual physical pressings exist with White Hot Stampers? On both sides, way fewer. Our Top Shelf (3+/3+) section had four listings in it recently. White Hots number more than 90.

Still, there would be hundreds at a minimum for a record that sold well, and thousands or tens of thousands for a record that sold really well.

Think of Zep II, 100,000 cut by RL. In our shootout from 2024, we had four copies and 2 of them earned 3+ and two of them either 2.5+ or 2+.

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“I am basically left without words, amazingly jaw dropping.”

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of The Beatles Available Now

Years ago we received this letter about a Hot Stamper pressing of Abbey Road.

Hello Gentlemen,

Today I listened to the copy of Abbey Road I bought from you last week. I am basically left without words, amazingly jaw dropping. Thank you so much.

Bennett

Bennett,

We love it when our customers’ jaws drop — it’s exactly the reaction we hope for when we discover killer copies in a shootout. They blow our minds and we’re glad they blew yours too.

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“I started leaving notes and assessments which I frequently check later and often correct, since I keep learning more and more what to listen for.”

Our Guide to Record Collecting for Audiophiles

One of our customers wanted to give us his reactions to the first year’s worth of Hot Stamper pressings he had purchased, starting in 2022 and hitting 31 by 2023. (He has since put in more than 200 additional orders. Turns out he really likes our records.)

What you see below is just a small excerpt from the longer letter he sent. Apologies for not having posted it sooner. (Emphasis added.)

Dear Tom

I learned already a lot from your website by constantly following your new entries and digging into older ones.

I listen to my records at a far louder level than I used to and can appreciate the advantages of bringing the music really to life (while hopefully not hurting my not very young ears :-).

More importantly, I listen to my large collection more than I ever did.

I started leaving notes and assessments which I check frequently later and often correct, since I keep learning more and more what to listen for. I never did this before and it is great fun. And I keep scribbling a list of records which I may be interested in to buy from you.

There are also lots of reissues I bought and never really compared to originals, taking for granted the kudos they receive frequently in the press. Some are good, some are respectable, some are really bad, and none was as good or even better than a good original or one of your SH stampers at hand for comparison.

The One step Mofi Michael Jackson is almost a bad joke compared to your Super Hot stamper. So I stopped buying reissues and started putting aside still sealed reissues which should sell well anytime in the future.

To sum it up: I never had more fun listening to my collection and to your records thanks to you guys. Keep up the good work.

Christian

Christian,

Thanks for your letter. We love to hear from customers who actually take the time to read what we say about records and, even better, follow our advice (wherever possible) regarding their playback.

When you listen critically to records, taking the time to compare pressings and actually making notes about what you are hearing, you will certainly end end up understanding and enjoying the music you play on a much deeper and more emotionally powerful level. As you put it so well:

“I never did this before and it is great fun.”

Which means you get what we have been saying for more than twenty years:

When you do the work needed to get good sound, and the work it takes to find better records, the effort you make is work, but much more importantly, it is fun.

If it wasn’t fun, who would do it?

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“The records are so good I cannot concentrate on anything else while they are playing.”

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of The Beatles Available Now

One of our good customers had this to say about some Hot Stampers he purchased recently, one of which was Please Please Me.

Hey Tom, 

In the fall of 2007 I ordered my first Hot Stamper from you, Please Please Me.

Since then I have bought several more Hot Stampers from you, and occasionally you or Todd have written me asking how I like them. I have always replied saying I haven’t listened to them yet, because I’m waiting to buy a good enough turntable to do them justice. 

Good news: I now have a very good turntable.

Even better news: I have now listened to the first few Hot Stampers, and the combination of my new turntable and your Hot Stampers is heavenly.

The records are so good I cannot concentrate on anything else while they are playing, I just have to listen, and I want them to go on for ever.

The detail and clarity are breathtaking and it’s difficult to believe the sound can be really that good, but it is. It’s like the musicians are there in the room, it’s amazing.

For example, Please Please Me and Mccartney Unplugged are stunning, but in truth all the ones I’ve listened to so far are stunning. I’m really looking forward to listening to the rest.

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“Receiving this ticket to heaven feels like nothing short of divine providence.”

90+ White Hot Stamper Pressings Available Now

One of our good customers recently wrote us an especially touching letter about two debut albums we share a love for: Led Zeppelin’s and Jeff Beck’s.

We thanked him and he replied with these additional thoughts. He started by referencing a post I had sent him entitled Professional Skateboarder Danny Way on Flow. 

Dear Tom,

Reading this article, I thought, “That’s exactly what I was thinking. That’s because his reflections align with the concept of the “functioning mind”—as described by the Indian sage Ramesh Balsekar in his teachings on the “functioning mind” and the “thinking mind.”

My origins in audio lie in the resonant “hum” I felt filling the entire concert hall during classical performances, and in my high school days, when I was completely immersed (a state of self-forgetfulness) in Jimi Hendrix’s “Purple Haze,” Blue Cheer’s “Summertime Blues,” and The Mamas & the Papas’ “California Dreaming” as they played through a cheap tube radio.

Later, I formed a jazz-rock band and played drums. When I was really in the zone (a state of self-forgetfulness), my hands would move naturally and unconsciously, executing intricate techniques. But when I couldn’t get into the groove, I’d become preoccupied with my technique and timing, my hands wouldn’t move as I wanted, and the exhilaration of playing would vanish into the distance.

From these experiences, I came to believe that the essence of music lies in whether or not one can achieve a state of immersion and self-forgetfulness.

I built up my audio collection, discovered The Absolute Sound in the late ’80s, and became obsessed with collecting Harry Pearson’s TAS List—but most of those records ended up gathering dust on my shelf after just two or three listens. That’s because I couldn’t immerse myself in them.

I spent days wondering why I couldn’t get immersed and found them boring, even though they were said to sound good. Then Fred Kaplan, Michael Fremer, Frank Doris, and others began publishing articles on matrices, stampers, mastering, and cutting, and I found myself sinking deeper and deeper into the quagmire of labels like “true original” and “first pressing”… (laughs).

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“I now know how the Beatles ACTUALLY sound, and cannot bear to listen to any substandard versions.”

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of The Beatles Available Now

One of our good customers had this to say about a Hot Stamper pressing he purchased recently:

I just received the Super Hot Stamper copy of the Beatles Oldies and would like to thank you for selecting a very nice copy that is in the surprisingly good condition. On the first listen, the outstanding tracks are “She Loves You” (super sweet, crystal clear vocals), “Day Tripper” (incredibly soft, yet energetic sound), “Eleanor Rigby” (powerful voice and strings), “I Feel Fine” (crisp, powerful drums), and “A Hard Day’s Night” (oooh, those vocals and those chiming guitars bursting out of the speakers!)

The only somewhat disappointing track is “Help.” Hard sounding, even harsh, with boosted highs and insufficient bass.

Alex followed up in more depth with this:

Just wanted to send you compliments on picking a very good pressing of the The Beatles “A Collection of Beatles Oldies” (Super Hot Stamper). I am a massive Beatles fan and have a number of various copies of their LPs in my collection. I received your hot stamper yesterday, and spent some time doing side-by-side shootouts comparing the tracks on your hot stamper to the same tracks on my other LPs.

I’ll just quickly comment on “Ticket To Ride” (one of my all time favourite Beatles songs): I compared the hot stamper pressing with my original UK pressing of the LP “Help.” After playing “Ticket To Ride” (last track on side one of “Help”, I said to myself “hey, no way this track could ever sound better than it already does. The sound is big as a house, loads of energy, the guitars are cutting, shimmering. and leaping out the right speaker, Lennon’s voice is searing, Ringo’s drums are rocking!”

Then I played the hot stamper version. Wow! What a stunning difference. It’s as if someone pulled cotton wool out of my ears. Such presence, such clarity, such musicality. The sweetness, the razor sharp imaging and precision in the soundstage. I mean, I’m speechless.

I then dutifully went on to play “Ticket To Ride”, comparing the hot stamper with my Japanese pressing of “Help”, my Capitol pressing, etc. Of course, all those other pressings fared much worse than my original UK pressing.

I am kind of in disbelief now. How’s such a stunning difference even possible, given that they’re pretty much coming from the same (or similar) master tape. My 1965 UK pressing [1] was obviously cut from the fresh master tape, and yet it sounds muddled and blaring compared to the 1966 [2] pressing of the hot stamper.

Another interesting thing to note is that, prior to hearing the hot stamper, I honestly thought that the UK version on the “Help” LP sounded fantastic.

This experience sounds and feels like witchcraft. It took me a while to follow Robert’s advice [Robert Brook the man behind The Broken Record] and get to listen to a hot stamper, but here we are.

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