Hot Stamper Pressings of Sgt. Peppers Available Now
You might agree with some reviewers that EMI’s engineers did a pretty good job with the new Pepper.
In the March 2013 issue of Stereophile, Art Dudley weighed in, finding little to fault on this title but being less impressed with most of the others in the new box set.
His reference disc? The MoFi UHQR. Gadzooks!
Oh, and he also has some old mono pressings and a domestic Let It Be. Now there’s a man who knows his Beatles. Fanatical? Who can blame him? We’re talkin’ The Beatles for Chrissake!
When I read the reviews by writers such as these I often get the sense that I must’ve fallen through some sort of Audio Time Warp and landed back in 1982.
How is it that our so-called experts evince so little understanding of how records are made, how variable the pressings can be, and, more importantly, how absolutely crucial it is to understand and implement rigorous protocols when attempting to carry out comparisons among pressings.
Critically comparing LPs is difficult and time-consuming.
It requires highly developed listening skills that I could not possibly have had because I had no clue as to what they were or how to go about acquiring them.
I see no evidence that the audiophile reviewers of today are better at it than I was in 1982, and I was terrible.
What does one well-known reviewer have to say, keeping in mind that he’s using his original British pressing for comparison? I quote at length — without prejudice so to speak — so there can be no misunderstanding. (Emphasis added.)