1-2025

Don’t Waste Your Money on this RCA from 1961

Hot Stamper Pressings of Living Stereo Recordings Available Now

These Beethoven “Appassionata” And “Funeral March” sonata recordings have never impressed us sonically.

On the Shaded Dog pressings of LSC 2545 that we’ve auditioned, the piano is too thin.

Who likes a thin sounding piano?

If you have big speakers that can move air with authority, the kind needed to reproduce the size and power of a concert piano, then check out some of the titles we’ve found to have especially weighty piano reproduction.

The sound is not awful — you could certainly do worse — but we do not see the value in this title considering it will be neither cheap nor quiet.

We say pass.

Lewis Layton is clearly one of our favorite engineers, but this album does not seem to be up to his usual standards, or ours.

There are quite a number of other vintage classical releases that we’ve run into over the years with noticeable shortcomings.

For fans of vintage Living Stereo pressings, here are some to avoid.

Some audiophiles may be impressed by the average Shaded Dog pressing, but I can assure you that we here at Better Records are decidedly not of that persuasion.

Something in the range of five to ten per cent of the major label Golden Age recordings we play will eventually make it to the site. The vast majority just don’t sound all that good to us. (Many have second- and third-rate performances and those get tossed without ever making it to a shootout.)

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Hot Stampers Helped Some Audiophiles Hear What They’d Been Missing

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Led Zeppelin Available Now

One of our good customers had this to say about some Hot Stampers he played at a stereo show recently. You can read all about it here.

We carried on the conversation:

Tom,

Thank you and for sure I’d be more than happy to spread the word more and help out! Send me cards for sure. I’m def a Better Records disciple.

You should consider teaming up with a room at the show next time. I think worth your while. Time to break the grip of the MoFi Mafia at these shows.

All the best, Mike

Mike,

We went to some shows years ago and nothing came of it.

It may turn out that none of these people will ever want to pay good money — let’s be honest, a lot of good money — for Hot Stampers. I wrote about it here.

Experience over many years has borne out this view, disappointing as it may be.

The audiophiles who go to shows for some reason don’t seem to be able to wrap their heads around the concept of Hot Stampers.

Hard to imagine that none of them can afford our records. The money someone might pay for three wacky MoFis or three Analogue Productions disasters would probably get you one very good sounding Hot Stamper pressing. In my book, one good record that you might actually listen to and enjoy often is a whole lot better than any number of modern records that you will seldom play and more than likely simply file away on the shelf where their sole purpose will be to collect dust.

I’m guessing. I don’t really know what people do with all these mediocre sounding reissues. I wrote about what I suspect happens to them here.

I Beg the Question

But this is purely an exercise in “begging the question.”

I’m assuming things I do not know to be true, in order to make the very point I have the burden of proving.

To make my case, I would need to provide evidence to back up the claim that these records don’t get played and enjoyed. To be honest, I have no evidence whatsoever that the owners of these records don’t enjoy the hell out of them.

It’s a naked expression of prejudice on my part. I’m assuming that what’s obviously true for me must be true for others. I don’t enjoy playing these Heavy Vinyl records, and I think that other audiophiles must be as disappointed by them as I am.

But Heavy Vinyl records are selling very well these days. Somebody is buying them.

And they buy them even though, as our writer points out, they cannot begin to compete with good vintage pressings.

More question begging? Not really. This happens to be something I can provide plenty of evidence for and can prove with ease.

Practically every record on our site is a rebuttal to audiophile pressings from every era, made by every company in the remastering business.

To find out how wrong these modern records are, all you need do is buy one of our Hot Stampers and play them head to head.

Oh well. All we can do is keep trying to get the word out. And we thank you for your help showing audiophiles what they are missing.

Because explaining doesn’t work. Only hearing works.

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What Are My Options on Pearl?

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Janis Joplin Available Now

Mobile Fidelity famously attempted to do a version of this album back in the 80s that (thankfully) never made it past the test pressing phase.

Sells for big money too. Collector mentality at its worst.

And what could be sadder than collecting the awful records of that ridiculous label?

In the 80s it might have made sense — I myself was a big fan back then — but at some point we should consider making at least some progress in this hobby, and it does not take much audio progress before the shortcomings of the vast majority of these remastered pressings become obvious and intolerable.

There’s a Sony 180 gram reissue from Germany that’s godawful, and the later Columbia versions are a mess as well.

Consider taking our moderately helpful advice concerning the pressings that tend to do well in our shootouts.

This record has been sounding its best for many years this way:

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Time Further Out on Impex – You Could Do a Whole Lot Better

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Dave Brubeck Available Now

The Impex pressing of this classic album was mastered by the late and formerly great George Marino at Sterling Sound. It was released in 2013. We did a big shootout for the album at the end of 2023 and somehow found a copy of the Impex to include.

(My guess is that we probably picked it up locally for cheap. We never pay good money for these pressings. We do these reviews as a public service, so keeping out costs down is baked in to the deal. Now that we’ve played it, we will trade it back to the store we bought it from for whatever they are willing to give us. We sure don’t have any use for it.)

Here it is 2025 and we are just now getting around to publishing the notes  for the Impex LP you see below.

We rarely put much effort into detailing the shortcomings of these Heavy Vinyl reissues. The people that buy them don’t care what we think, and, to be honest, probably cannot hear the sonic flaws we expose or they would long ago have given up buying such markedly inferior pressings, perhaps about the time Classic Records starting pressing their ersatz Living Stereo LPs in the mid-90s.

The fact that some of Classic’s pressing are still on the so-called TAS Super Disc list (renamed the TAS Super LP List for 2023), along with scores of other Heavy Vinyl duds, does not speak well for the magazine or its readers.

The typical audiophile record buyer can be forgiven for not finding much fault in the sound of this Impex pressing. It’s not awful the way so many of their releases are. But up against the real thing it leaves a lot to be desired, and what it lacks can be found in abundance on our admittedly-expensive Hot Stamper pressings.

In our world, the world of truly high-fidelity pressings, you get what you pay for, and if you ever feel otherwise, you get your money back, no questions asked.

With grades of one plus on both sides, the sound was not good enough to compete with even the lowliest of our Hot Stamper pressings. Those must earn a grade of 1.5+ or better to make it to our site.

The notes for side one read:

Track two

  • Wooly bass
  • Thin and hard piano
  • Not far off tonally but recessed and opaque

Track one

  • Big and lively
  • Bass is a bit much!
  • No real top
  • Compressed and thick

The notes for side two read:

Track three

  • No real weight
  • Full but hard/flat handclaps
  • Big and wide but hot

Track one

  • Tonally similar to the real thing but very opaque and stuck (in the speakers)
  • Boring
  • No space

Reminds me in some ways of a George Marino-mastered title that we spent a great deal of time evaluating a few years back, this one.

Either way, it’s not terrible, but it’s not all that good either.

Any Six-Eye and probably any 360 Columbia label pressing (but probably not your average 70s Red Label LP —  we stopped buying them years ago) will be better sounding.

Noisier for sure, but clearly better sounding.

If you own this modern reissue and want to hear just how good the album can sound, we would be honored to make that happen.

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Letter of the Week – “Way too many egos that don’t want to be bruised or admit to something that’s not theirs.”

More Hot Stamper Testimonial Letters

Hey Tom,

Several weeks ago I read your blog article about a person named Ray that sent you an interesting letter a while back. I had to laugh and shake my head after reading the content. To accuse anyone of being jealous of another is quite childish!

If anything here, Ray seems to be the one who is jealous and probably has never heard a genuine Hot Stamper on a quality sound system. It’s my understanding you have 40 years of research and experience doing what you do.

The record companies are giants and we, the consumer, have been, unfortunately, at their mercy. Myself included. Until now.

Ray and all others like him need to know that those of us out there in the world that listen to music (vinyl) passionately need to know the truth about the deception, propaganda, lies and crappy sounding records that the record companies are selling to an uninformed public.

There is a local business in this area that caters to the wealthier side of town in audio. I had a conversation with the owner a while back and these people are 100% convinced and brainwashed that all the remastered Heavy Vinyl pressings are the best thing ever…

Obviously they haven’t heard a hot stamper on one of those pricey systems. They are so convinced that they will not keep an open mind for a different view.

One thing I have noticed in the audiophile community, way too many egos that don’t want to be bruised or admit to something that’s not theirs. May the force be with all of us who listen to hot stampers.
Thx
Mike P.

Mike,

Thanks so much for your letter.

How anybody is fooled by the awful sound of the currently available Heavy Vinyl releases is hard to fathom, but I bought into that crap in the 90s, so who am I to talk? I was as lost as anyone. It took a lot of time and effort to figure out how wrong I was.

Yes, I had to work to figure all this stuff out, but it’s just not in the cards for most audiophiles and never will be.

None of that stops us from enjoying great vintage vinyl, so I don’t let it bother me.

Here is hoping the new year brings health and happiness to you and yours and lots of great music.

TP

Mike replied:

Thanks for your feedback. I do truly appreciate it, especially because you have done the homework and the result is hot stampers. Yeah baby!

I have a friend who has been into vinyl since high school as I have. Back in the mid-70s. We reunited our friendship about 5 years ago and he has been an inspiration for the sound system I have today. We enjoy listening sessions at each other’s place, especially now that my system has reached a high level of sound quality.

However, there is a big difference in philosophy and quality of sound in our systems. He insists on listening to vintage domestic copies (not hot stampers) and remastered heavy vinyl. Also, he is using EQ (compressed and lifeless) and a DAC in his tape loop for the turntable circuit.

It is truly painful for me to listen to his system. I used to think it was awesome!

Because he is so set in his ways and not open to suggestion, his sound will never change. I have talked to him about hot stampers and even brought a couple copies over to play. He has closed his mind to a better thing and will not consider spending $ on them.

Back to my comment about how many audiophiles out there have this ego thing that will keep them from ever experiencing what I have on my system with hot stampers!
Mike

Mike, anyone in audio who is set in his ways and refuses to open his ears is doomed to a life of mediocre quality playback.

I heard it everywhere I went until I finally just gave up going to places just to hear more mediocre sound.

I’m glad I went where I did and found what I found — the EAR 324P, the Legacy speakers — but, to be honest, most of what I ended up with I found as a matter of good friends and good fortune.

I just happened to have very good luck. And two open ears. Not everybody does.

I consider myself very fortunate. Thanks again for writing,

TP

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Shooting Out Blue from 2005 to 2011

Hot Stamper Pressing of the Music of Joni Mitchell Available Now

UPDATE

This review starts with a killer copy we played in 2011. Further down you can read about our aborted attempt to do a shootout for the album in 2005.

ABSOLUTELY STUNNING TRIPLE PLUS SOUND ON SIDE TWO with a side one that’s nearly as wonderful! You’ve probably heard us say this before, but it is ridiculously tough to find great copies of Blue. It’s not just the toughest nut to crack in Joni’s catalog, it’s one of the most difficult albums in ALL OF POP MUSIC to get to sound right.

So when we find one like this, it’s a BIG DEAL. It’s got Off The Charts breathiness, delicacy, warmth and sweetness, and that’s just Joni’s voice. The sound of the ensemble throughout is amazingly natural, the recording so spacious.

Just check out the piano on The Last Time I Saw Richard: this is not the thin and hard-sounding instrument that accompanies Joni on every pressing you have ever had the misfortune to audition, hoping against hope that someday you would find that “elusive disc” with sound worthy of such extraordinary music. No, this piano has real weight; it has body; and it’s surrounded by real, three-dimensional studio space. No vinyl pressing we have ever played has managed to capture the sound of the piano on this record any better. Exactly no copies. (A few White Hot Stamper copies have done it as well, but none any better.) For those of you with a certain Heavy Vinyl pressing in your collection, we can only say: Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

Both sides here are rich, full-bodied and warm with amazing immediacy. The sound is exceptionally DYNAMIC and the clarity and transparency are OFF THE SCALES. Joni’s vocals sound just right — so clear and natural, with lots of breath and texture.

We Promised Not to Talk About It

In the introduction to the Blue Game you may remember reading this:

Down the road when we’ve had a chance to do a shootout amongst all our best copies, we will be offering something more to our liking. I recommend instead — and this is coming from a die-hard LP guy, someone who disconnected his home CD player over two years ago and only plays the damn things in the car — that you pick yourself up a nice used copy of the gold CD Hoffman mastered for DCC. It’s wonderful.”

We then went on to explain that we didn’t want to just tell you what we found lacking in the newly remastered version. We much preferred that you discover it for yourself, an experience we were sure would be both edifying and enjoyable in equal amounts.

We Weren’t Ready in 2005

That first aborted attempt at a shootout for Blue failed because we had neither the specialized cleaning techniques and machinery that we use now, nor the equipment required to play such a challenging recording. We pointed out at the time that our notes contained comments such as “soft, lacks bass, grungy, grainy, thin, hi-fi, bright, so-so, aggressive, hard, thick, groove damage, highs worn away, lacking in bass and extreme top, gritty, swooshy, bad vinyl.”

No doubt that’s what we were hearing.

We also found comments such as “perfection, wonderful, lovely, sweet, transparent, as good as it gets, Joni’s right there, one of the best, wow.”

So there was hope, even way back in 2005. But no Blue to sell.

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When It Comes to Carts and Horses, Which Comes First, and Who Pulls Whom?

Please Consider Taking Some of Our Audio Advice

Robert Brook recently wrote a piece making the case that the cure for audiophile ailments of all kinds — burnout, boredom, etc. — is a high quality stereo system. It is beautifully written and we think well worth your time to read.

Robert walks us through what it has meant to him to have spent so many hours over the years building a high quality stereo system, mostly by describing the musical enjoyment it has brought to him.

What could be better?

We feel the same way. If you build such a system, and play the right records on it, you will experience the music you love in ways more powerful than you could have ever even imagined. Your favorite albums will sound so good that boredom and burnout would be simply inconceivable.

Those of us with top quality systems are confused by the dysfunctional relationship these poor souls have to their stereos and recordings. With a good stereo and good records, it’s hard to see how these psychological states are even possible.

The Heart of the Problem

The problem audiophiles have is one that sits right at the heart of our hobby.

Good stereos are hard to come by.

So the question always comes down to how one should go about building such a beast. There are two schools of thought.

Is the first priority to have properly-pressed, properly-mastered records of well-recorded music in order to get the ball rolling?

Or is it better to make improvements to the stereo first, so that you can then pursue better sounding records and end up with the best of both worlds, a great stereo playing great records?

My Two Cents

Allow me to weigh in. Please consider the following unusual, even goofy, and possibly logically inconsistent, analogy.

Imagine that the place where you can enjoy music is a town not far from where you live.

Because you love music, you must travel there as that is the only place you can enjoy your favorite music to its fullest.

The Horse and the Cart

The horse that draws the cart that you ride into this town is not the right record, it is the right stereo in the right room.

Without the right stereo, you lack the ability to recognize the right record.

Similarly, you lack the ability to appreciate what makes it more right than any other record.

Without the right stereo, you may in fact be trying to optimize the playback of records that are wrong. I did this for decades with my Mobile Fidelity records in the 70s and 80s. I played Heavy Vinyl pressings in the 90s and early 2000s that sounded right to me at the time but no longer do, mainly because our current system evolved over a very long time to be ruthless at revealing their deficiencies and my ears became better at recognizing them.

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