beyond-white-hot

When a pressing — really, one side of a pressing in most cases — goes FAR beyond anything we’d ever heard for the title, we used to award it Four Pluses. In the interests of consistency, we no longer use that grade. These listings are offered as examples of breakthroughs that came our way in the past.

Julie Is Her Name – What a Record!

Hot Stamper Pressings of Pop and Jazz Vocals Available Now

UPDATE 2026

We were shocked to discover a knockout Four Plus copy of Julie Is Her Name way back in 2010.

Our lengthy commentary entitled outliers and out-of-this-world sound talks about how rare these kinds of pressings are and how we go about finding them. We no longer give out Four Pluses as a matter of policy, but that doesn’t mean we don’t come across records that deserve them from time to time.

Nowadays we most often place them under the general heading of breakthrough pressings. These are records that, seemingly out of nowhere, revealed to us sound of such high quality that it conpletely changed our appreciation of the recording itself.

We found ourselves asking “Who knew?” Perhaps a better question might have been “How high is up?”

Our Old Review

Beyond White Hot stamper sound on side one of this Turquoise Liberty Mono pressing – the sound is guaranteed to blow your mind. Julie is in the room with you – intimate, breathy and Tubey Magical like practically nothing you’ve ever heard. For late night listening this may be the best Sultry Female Vocal recording ever made.

Side One

This side had breathy resolution that was hard to believe, along with size and immediacy that no other side of any copy could touch. Phenomenal. (more…)

Our Tarkio Four Plus Shootout Winner from 2012

Hot Stamper Pressings of Hippie Folk Rock Albums Available Now

UPDATE 2026

Here is our 2012 review for this amazing sounding breakthrough pressing of Tarkio.

It’s records like these that are the payoff for all the money, time and effort you’ve put into your system.

This White Hot Stamper side one of our beloved Tarkio, Brewer and Shipley’s Folk Rock Masterpiece, is without a doubt the BEST SOUND we have ever heard on any pressing bar none. This side sets a standard that no other copy on any side could touch. True, we awarded a Triple Plus grade to an amazing side two copy, but this side one is still the better of the two. We could easily have called it Four Pluses but chose to go with the simpler A+++ and this explanation.

However you frame it, this side is OFF THE CHARTS in a big way. It’s amazingly rich, yet clear and transparent as any we played — what a combination!

This, like Dark Side and so many other White Hot Stamper records we offer to the discriminating audiophile, is ANALOG at its finest. To our knowledge there hasn’t been a single record mastered in the last thirty years with this kind of sound, and we know whereof we speak: we’ve played them by the hundreds.

A Desert Island Disc for me with wonderfully NATURAL sound. This copy had the ULTIMATE Side One (A+++) and a very competitive Side Two (A++), making it the King of our Shootout. If you love this record as much as you should, this is the copy to own. I would love to keep it for my desert island, but we know there is surely a deserving soul out there who will treasure it as much as I do, and probably play it a lot more often, so if you know the album at all this is your chance at greatness. (And I still haven’t found a desert island I’m all that partial to anyway.)

Not Really One Toke Over the Line

Please don’t assume that this album has much in the way of uptempo country rockers like One Toke Over the Line, Flying Burrito Brothers style. Nothing could be further from the truth. Practically every other song on the album is better, almost all of them are taken at a slower pace, with none of them having the “poppy” arrangement of that carefully calculated Top Forty hit. The rest of the music on the album, the music you probably don’t know, is much better than the music that you do know if what you know is that song.

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The Best Jazz Record Ever Made, or the Best Jazz Record We’ve Ever Played?

Hot Stamper Pressings of Recordings by Rudy Van Gelder Available Now

I ran across this listing for Cannonball Adderley’s Somethin’ Else today, a record we raved about after doing a shootout for it years ago. Notice the careful hedging in the phrases with newly added italics:

The music here is amazing — as I’m sure most of you know, this is as much a showcase for Miles Davis as it is for Cannonball himself — but the good news for audiophiles is that it’s also one of the BEST SOUNDING BLUE NOTE ALBUMS we know of. When you hear it on a copy like this, it’s just about As Good As It Gets.

After doing this shootout in 2015 I would like to amend the above remarks for being much too conservative. The current consensus here at Better Records is that this album deserves to hold three — count ’em, three — somewhat related titles:

One, The Best Sounding Blue Note record we have ever played.

Two, The Best Sounding Jazz Record we have ever played.

Three, Rudy Van Gelder’s Best Engineering (based on the copies we played).

Our shootout winners had more energy, presence, dynamics and three-dimensional studio space than any jazz recording we have ever heard. The sound was as BIG and BOLD as anything in our audio experience.

Add to that a perfectly balanced mix, with tonality that’s correct from top to bottom for every instrument in the soundfield and you may begin to see why we feel that the best copies of this album set a standard that no other jazz record we’re aware of can meet.

Have we played every Blue Note, every RVG recording, every jazz record?

Of course not. We would never make such a claim. It’s preposterous on its face.

In our defense, who could possibly claim to have critically evaluated the sound of more jazz records than we have?

There are multitudes of music experts in the world of jazz. For jazz sound quality the numbers must surely be orders of magnitude smaller, and here is where we’re pretty sure we have more than a few critically valuable advantages, to wit:

  • better playback equipment,
  • better record cleaning technologies,
  • stacks of pressings of the same title,
  • a scientifically oriented approach and, most importantly of all,
  • a single-minded purpose. 

All our efforts are in service to only one end, to find the pressing with the ultimate in analog sound.

(Naturally we leave the sound of CDs and other digital formats to others. Although CDs often outperform their modern Heavy Vinyl pressing equivalent — here is a case in point — we know our lane and and are happy to stay within it.) (more…)

Our Four Plus Innervisions Shootout Winner from 2008

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Stevie Wonder Available Now

UPDATE 2026

We discovered a killer Shootout Winning pressing in 2008 that showed us an Innervisions we had no idea could possibly exist. It was so good sounding we gave it 4 Pluses, something we no longer do.

  • Our lengthy commentary entitled outliers and out-of-this-world sound talks about how rare these kinds of pressings are and how we go about finding them.
  • We no longer give Four Pluses out as a matter of policy, but that doesn’t mean we don’t come across records that deserve them from time to time.
  • Nowadays we most often place them under the general heading of breakthrough pressings. These are records that revealed to us sound of such high quality that it fundamentally changed our appreciation of the recording itself.

Our Commentary from 2008

A++++ Beyond White Hot Stampers discovered for Innervisions.

After struggling through multiple stalled shootouts, we’ve finally unearthed copies of this wonderful album that have the sound we’ve been waiting for. We’ve gone through SCORES of pressings in the hope that one day we’d find a copy like this — with two Demo Quality sides, and fairly quiet vinyl, it’s our first ever White Hot Stamper for Stevie Wonder’s Innervisions.

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Our Four Plus Shootout Winner for Dire Straits from 2011

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Dire Straits Available Now

UPDATE 2026

This review for Dire Straits’ first album was written in 2011. We had just discovered that a pressing of the album was clearly superior to every other pressing we had ever played. We were pretty excited about it and wanted to share the news about our breakthrough.

A substantial amount of the time, breakthroughs come about due to the conventional wisdom being wrong — and us not knowing it until an experiment proved it wrong. The needle is the only thing that can give us an answer we can trust, certainly not the pundits or the self-described experts.

What makes them experts? We have no idea and they never say. They just seem to “know” things, but they never tell us how they know them.

We do. We can’t shut up about all the stuff we know!

No concept is more fundamental to collecting the best sounding pressings than to be able to test records to find out if the received wisdom you are using as a guide is right, wrong or something in-between.

At the bottom of the listing for the album you can see a number of links to other records that share the same qualities as the first Dire Straits release does.

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Basic Miles – Our Four Plus Shootout Winner

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Miles Davis Available Now

In 2018 we awarded this copy’s side two of Basic Miles our very special Four Plus (A++++) grade, which is strictly limited to pressings (really, individual sides of pressings) that take a recording to a level we’ve never experienced before, a level we had no idea could even exist.

We estimate that less than one per cent of the Hot Stamper pressings we come across in our shootouts earn this grade. As I write this there is not a single other record on the site that earned that grade on either side. You can’t get much more rare than that.

UPDATE 2026

  • Our lengthy commentary entitled outliers and out-of-this-world sound talks about how rare these kinds of pressings are and how we go about finding them.
  • We no longer give Four Pluses out as a matter of policy, but that doesn’t mean we don’t come across records that deserve them from time to time.
  • Nowadays we most often place them under the general heading of breakthrough pressings. These are records that, out of the blue, revealed to us sound of such high quality that it changes our appreciation of the recording itself.
  • We found ourselves asking “Who knew?” Perhaps a better question might have been “How high is up?”

Kind of Blue

Want to know how good our Hot Stamper Kind of Blue pressings sound? Listen to this very record. If you play the tracks that were recorded in 1958, the year before Kind of Blue, you will hear practically the same lineup of musicians.

That means Stella By Starlight and Little Melonae on side one, and Green Dolphin Street and Fran-Dance (Put Your Little Foot Right Out) on side two. We’re talking Bill Evans, John Coltrane and Cannonball Adderley in their prime, 1958, with top 1958 sound to match.

The nine-minute-plus Green Dolphin Street that opens side two is nothing short of amazing, some of the coolest jazz you will ever hear, on any record, at any price.

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Pretzel Logic – Our Four Plus Shootout Winner from 2011

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Steely Dan Available Now

This BEYOND White Hot side one (A++++) of Pretzel Logic has nothing less than master tape sound. [Whatever that is!] Our Four Plus ranking is rare enough, but in this case it has the added benefit of conferring upon this very pressing the status of the best sounding Steely Dan recording we have ever heard.

There is no better recording in the Steely Dan catalog, and I don’t think there’s a copy anywhere that’s any better than this on side one. (To see what we consider to be the single best sounding album from two hundred(!) other artists, please click here.)

UPDATE 2026

  • Note that only one side on this pressing was actually any good. Side two earned a sub-Hot Stamper grade of 1+. We no longer sell records with grades that low.
  • In 2011 we still had a lot to learn about Pretzel Logic, but this copy sure had us fired up at the time, and that’s a good thing, right?
  • Our lengthy commentary entitled outliers and out-of-this-world sound talks about how rare these kinds of pressings are and how we go about finding them.
  • We no longer give Four Pluses out as a matter of policy, but that doesn’t mean we don’t come across records that deserve them from time to time.
  • Nowadays we most often place them under the general heading of breakthrough pressings. These are records that, out of the blue, revealed to us sound of such high quality that it changes our undertanding of the recording itself.
  • We found ourselves asking “Who knew?” Perhaps a better question might have been “How high is up?”

This Beyond White Hot Pretzel Logic has got it all: tons of energy, mindblowing transparency, uncanny presence, and lots of deep bass. We feel Pretzel Logic is the band’s best sounding recording, and here’s a copy that will show you why.

There’s lots of room around the drums, texture to the bass, breath to the vocals, and weight to the bottom end. The clarity is unbelievable and the overall sound is HUGE! The piano sounds AMAZING and the top end is silky sweet. It’s more open and more alive than you could ever imagine.

We’ve been playing this record since it came out in 1973 and this is the first “Four Plus” A++++ grade we have ever awarded it. The sound is Demo Disc quality of the highest order.

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This Tale of the Tsar Saltan Was Off the Charts

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Rimsky-Korsakov Available Now

Many years ago we played a London pressing of The Tale of Tsar Saltan with an AMAZING side one. It was so good we gave it our rare 4+ grade. We freaked out when we heard this side – it took the sound beyond anything we had ever experienced for the work.

It’s so rich and real, with huge WHOMP factor down low, as well as clear, uncolored brass and robust lower strings – wow!

We figure about one out of a hundred sides earn our Four Plus grade – you can’t get much more rare than that.

UPDATE 2026

  • Our lengthy commentary entitled outliers and out-of-this-world sound talks about how rare these kinds of pressings are and what it takes to discover them.
  • We no longer give Four Pluses out as a matter of policy, but that doesn’t mean we don’t come across records that deserve them from time to time.
  • Nowadays we most often place them under the general heading of breakthrough pressings. These are records that, out of the blue, revealed to us sound of such high quality that it changes our appreciation of the recording itself.
  • We found ourselves asking “Who knew?” Perhaps a better question might have been “How high is up?”

(more…)

A Killer Copy of Pictures at an Exhibition

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Mussorgsky Available Now

We describe the better copies of Muti’s Pictures for EMI this way in our listings:

Our favorite performance by far, with big, bold and powerful sonics like no other recording we know.

The brass clarity, the dynamics, the deep bass and the sheer power of the orchestra are almost hard to believe. No vintage recording of these works compares with Muti’s – and Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite is an extra special added bonus on side two.

Here are the notes for our most recent Shootout Winning pressing to back up everything we say.

Side One

  • Huge and tubey orchestra
  • Lush and strong
  • Sounds pretty right
  • Powerful low end

Side Two

  • So full and big and tubey
  • Tons of weight and power
  • Like no others!

No doubt the enthusiastic nature of these notes is in response to the big finish for Pictures.

It is a very special piece of music, one that has thrilled me as an music-loving audiophile since I first heard it on record sometime in my twenties, and this was a very special pressing of the recording. In the old days a side two like this might have been given a grade of Four Pluses, but we don’t do that anymore, for reasons explained elsewhere on the blog.

Regardless of what grade we chose to give it, this side two was superior to either side of every other copy we played. It set a standard that no other side could meet. Yes, exceptional vintage pressings with sound that good are out there sitting in the record bins.

More from Our Listing

There is a slightly multi-miked quality to this recording. If you’ve been playing true Golden Age records all day you will notice that the instruments are more naturally and correctly spaced and sized on those recordings.

But, this is still a KNOCKOUT record which is guaranteed to bring any stereo to its knees. The dynamics, the deep bass and the sheer power of the orchestra have to be heard to be believed.

What does the typical EMI pressing of this album sound like? Not good. Sour brass, smeary or shrill strings, lacking in bass — mid-hall dead-as-a-doornail sound is fairly typical. Almost all the copies I’ve played are spacious, but so what? The sound of the instruments is often wrong and in my book that trumps any benefits concerning soundstaging or depth.

But the Hot Stampers give you the presence and immediacy you need to get involved in the work. The strings on the better copies have rosiny texture. The brass has weight — not the full measure of an RCA or London recording, but at least you get the impression that those instruments are trying to sound correct. And the bass drum really goes deep, unlike the Golden Age recordings I’ve heard.

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Our Four Plus Abbey Road Shootout Winner

Hot Stamper Pressings of Abbey Road Available Now

UPDATE 2026

This listing is from many years ago, possibly as early as 2010.

  • Our lengthy commentary entitled outliers and out-of-this-world sound talks about how rare these kinds of pressings are and how we go about finding them.
  • We no longer give Four Pluses out as a matter of policy, but that doesn’t mean we don’t come across records that deserve them from time to time.
  • Nowadays we most often place them under the general heading of breakthrough pressings. These are records that, out of nowhere, to the surprise of the listening panel, revealed to us sound of such high quality that it fundamentally changed our appreciation of the recording itself.
  • Breakthroughs often come about because the conventional wisdom we had been relying on up to that time turned out to be wrong. Regardless of how many original UK pressings of Abbey Road we might have cleaned and played, we would never have found one that sounds as good as this pressing does, simply because none of the originals ever came close to winning a shootout, and it’s very unlikely that one ever would.

An exceptional copy of The Beatles’ last and arguably greatest album with THE BEST SIDE TWO WE HAVE EVER HEARD — QUADRUPLE PLUS (A++++)!

If you’ve heard the disastrous new pressing, then you know how important it is to play a real, vintage, analog pressing. A copy this good might just give you a new appreciation for one of the Greatest Rock Albums of All Time.  A permanent member of the Better Records Top 100, and a Desert Island Disc if ever there was one.

Abbey Road checks off a number of important boxes for us here at Better Records. Here are three for starters:

The blog you are on now as well as our website are both devoted to very special records such as these.

Abbey Road is the very definition of a big speaker album. The better pressings have the kind of ENERGY in their grooves that are sure to leave most audiophile systems begging for mercy.

This is one of the The Beatles’ many audio challenges that await you. If you don’t have a system designed to play records with this kind of sonic power, don’t expect to hear them the way the band, Geoff Emerick, George Martin and everyone else involved in the production wanted you to.

It’s clear that The Beatles albums informed not only my taste in music, but the actual stereo I play that music on. It’s what progress in audio is all about. I’ve had large scale dynamic speakers for close to five decades, precisely in order to play demanding recordings such as Abbey Road, an album I fell in love with “all those years ago.”

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