hs-letter

Hot Stamper letters.

Letter of the Week – “Miles of Aisles, which sounded so good it made my wife cry (seriously).”

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Steve Winwood Available Now

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

Hey Tom, 

Yesterday I was marveling at the bottom-end and overall clarity of my new Stevie Winwood album.

I think it’s right up there with Miles of Aisles, which sounded so good it made my wife cry (seriously) .

But as always, I came up with a dark thought: Are Hot Stampers the only way to get my system to sound this good?

I have VERY few personally-selected LPs that can compete with a Hot Stamper. Even though I usually buy the “Budget” stampers, it looks like a future of hundred-buck-plus albums for me.

Gordon R.

Gordon,

Tears of joy I hope!

The right record can indeed be powerful and moving, enough to bring tears to one’s eyes.

I wrote about having powerful emotional experiences in a commentary that answers the question: “why would you want to go into a room and just play a record by yourself?”

Alas, finding those very special records is hard to do and not cheap, whether we do it or you do it.

We’re glad to know that a hundred dollars can still buy a good record. We have 119 of them in stock at that price as of this writing, and almost as many for $75 and under.

Many of them punch well above their weight sonically because they have condition issues or are titles that are may not be as popular as others we offer. Either way, many of them are great records that deserve a home, preferably a home with a nice turntable. Won’t you help?

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Letter of the Week – “It just came to life in a way that left the MoFi pressing in the dust in every way imaginable.”

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of The Cars Available Now

Ray, a new customer, here relates to us the experience of playing his first Hot Stamper pressing:

Pardon the language, Well f**k me!

My brother bought me The Cars, Heartbeat City Super Hot Stamper. And I got it on June 17th.

I opened the well-packed box, and behold! a rather common looking version. I took it out of the well made sleeve and it looked unimpressive.

I then put it on my turntable. And WOW!!! It just came to life in a way that left the MoFi pressing in the dust in every way imaginable. EVERYTHING sounded better, and my speakers SANG!!!

I am beyong impressed with this record and have absolutely no intention of getting rid of it.

I always felt like Tom was being overly harsh with “audiophile” pressings, But DAYUM!!! He is right.

I would gladly pay $100 again to get a record as good as this. I’m hooked!!!

Thank you folks for doing all the work.

Ray, thank you so much for your enthusiastic letter. A few thoughts come to mind.

Indeed, our records are rather common looking. They often look like the standard issue pressing that came out back in the day, because in most case that is exactly what they are.

We are not trying to make fancy good sounding records. Those that try to make good sounding records these days have a failure rate that borders on 100%. Why would we want to follow in their footsteps?

No, all we do is find the copies that were mastered right, pressed right, and therefore sound right.

It sounds like it should be easier to do, and in many ways it is. It is still a lot of work, but we don’t mind, we actually enjoy it.

As for the MoFi, it is not the least bit surprising that our copy smoked their pressing.

No, the surprising thing is how on earth that ridiculous company is still in business. We asked the question here and it is unlikely we will ever get a good answer.

We’re glad to know that a hundred dollars can indeed buy a good record. We have 119 of them in stock at that price as of this writing, and almost as many for $75 and under.

Many of them punch well above their weight sonically because they have condition issues or are titles that are may not be as popular as others we offer. Either way, many of them are great records that deserve a home, preferably a home with a nice turntable. Won’t you help?

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Letter of the Week – “Definitely a very and unexpected high quality.”

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Stephen Stills Available Now

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

Hey Tom, 

Received the LPs today from Stephen Stills and Santana. Definitely a very and unexpected high quality.

I grew up with these LPs. Unfortunately these can no longer be played because of the tobacco of the joints that were left behind.

Our store sells and promotes analog. We sell turntables such as SME, REED, Dohmann and Techdas, etc. http://www.rhapsody.nl

I will definitely promote you to our customers.

Harry

Thanks, Harry, for writing.

These are some great albums, they would sound killer on good equipment and these are the kinds of records that need to be played in stereo showrooms, not the audiophile crap that one hears so much.

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Letter of the Week – “I’m stunned, flabbergasted, and amazed.”

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Yes Available Now

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

Hey Tom,  

Got my albums today, and I’m stunned, flabbergasted, and amazed.

I purchased a “Hot Stamper” Yes Fragile, and immediately spun Side B. For the first two minutes, listening to “Long Distance Runaround,” I sat there with jaw slack, repeatedly shouting expletives. My son finally came downstairs to see what was going on. I simply couldn’t believe my ears. I have never, ever, heard as good a recorded rendition – and I’ve heard (and owned) numerous copies over the years.I literally heard stuff I’ve never heard before – for example, in the last chorus of “Heart of the Sunrise”, I could for the first time ever clearly hear Wakeman’s Minimoog layered on top of Anderson’s vocal. I knew it was there in the front part (“Sharp…Distance”) but never knew it was there on the “How can the wind with its arms…” part. Amazing.

I’ve been doing the audiophile thing for 20 years now – exclusively analog. And for the last many years, I’ve read your website, but remained skeptical. This is my first purchase! But it most certainly won’t be my last. My only lament is that I lack the funds to buy all of the albums that I now realize I MUST have! So, THANK YOU – for your dedication to finding and making available high quality recordings; and for bringing such incredible music into my home space!!! I look forward to doing much business with you in the future!   (more…)

Letter of the Week – “…jaw-droppingly good, and with quiet vinyl to boot…”

More of the Music of Bob Dylan

This letter comes from one of our best customers, our good friend Owais, who dropped us a line after he received his latest shipment of tasty Hot Stampers including a mono ’The Times They Are A-Changin’ and ’Bridge Over Troubled Water.’ 

Hi Tom,

Just a quick word on the last set of records that I received a couple of days ago, safe and sound. Have to agree with you – that mono of Dylan’s ‘The Times Thay Are A-Changin’ really is jaw-droppingly good, and with quiet vinyl to boot as well!

As for Simon & Garfunkel’s ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’, I have bought quite a few copies of this LP and, to my ears, nothing sounded as good as the Classic reissue… that is, until I got your Hot Stamper. Again, you got this one spot-on. The Classic just doesn’t come close in terms of warmth and tonality.

All the best, 
Owais

Owais, thanks for your letter. We love beating Heavy Vinyl pressings, especially the good ones! Both those titles are quite well-mastered, and that’s precisely why we carry them. Classic and Sundazed are each responsible for a world of bad sounding LPs, but every once in a while they get one right, and those they got right, all things considered.

UPDATE 2025

It is doubtful that these days we would agree with our previous estimation of those two titles being “right.” When we revisit the Heavy Vinyl pressings we used to like, even those with the caveat “all things considered,” rarely do we find that they have stood the test of time sonically.

But of course, as we never tire of pointing out, the real thing just can’t be beat, and the real thing is almost always an old record (and almost never a new one; seems like that should be the logical corollary, and by golly it is).

As for Bob, we were knocked out by that mono copy. We dropped the needle on side one and our jaws hit the floor — we’d never heard a Bob Dylan record sound so warm, rich, and sweet.

Columbia 360 Mono Mania

I was actually a big fan of the Sundazed Mono, but this has more of that Tubey Magic, richness, and overall naturalness that you find on old records, qualities that seem to be sorely lacking on even the best 180 gram remasterings. MoFi also did this title and ruined it in the process (shocker!).

I just don’t think you could make this record sound any better than it does here. Everything you could want from this music is here: wonderful clarity, mindblowing transparency, clearly audible transients on the guitar, texture to the vocals, full-bodied acoustic guitar sound, and so on.

Letter of the Week – “I couldn’t be happier. I confess I am a little emotional now.”

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Supertramp Available Now

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

Hey Tom, 

Just received by delivery this afternoon. I am just about beginning to realize what a good pressing really means…

I have only been able to listen to Supertramp [Even in the Quietest Moments] and The Final Cut until now. While Supertramp is excellent, the Final Cut is simply astounding!!

I really am at a loss of words so I will just say that I really am listening to completely new music.

I can’t come to terms with the fact that there is so much information buried in those grooves that I am listening to, honest to God, for the very first time… And the Final Cut is my favorite Floyd!

I couldn’t be happier. I confess I am a little emotional now. By no means, is this a casual purchase but boy… I think this is worth its weight in gold!

I’ll be back for more!!

Sujay

Dear Sujay,

Thanks for writing. So glad to hear you couldn’t be happier. That is exactly the reaction we were looking for.

Best, TP

P.S.

Sujay hasn’t bought any Hot Stampers from us since 2016. We doubt he went over to the dark side — that almost never happens — but anything is possible. Nevertheless we wish him well.

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Letter of the Week – “I did a lot of research on which pressing to purchase and nobody ever mentioned the version that you sell!”

Hot Stamper Pressings of Abbey Road Available Now

One our good customers wrote to tell us about his experience playing one of our Hot Stamper pressings of Abbey Road.

Hi Tom,

Tonight’s been really cool.

I got to hear Abbey Road in such a way that I had no idea existed. I put side one of the SHS I just got and my eyes popped out and my jaw dropped and I went ‘WTF’ was that.

Some of the extended bass rumbles on Come Together really made me smile and go ‘whoa.’

I know what my UK 1st pressing sounds like and I always thought that it was special in comparison to others l’d heard, like the MFSL and Japanese Pro Use.

So now I’m listening to yours somewhat in disbelief. The end of side one just about blew the windows out of the house! Then I put my UK copy on. By comparison, it just sounded flat… but on its own it sounds good.

What an amazing discovery. You are completely correct in your assessment of these ’69 UK pressings.

Thanks again,
Michel

P.S.

Over the last couple of years I did what I thought was a lot of research on which Abbey Road pressing to purchase for the best experience… and nobody ever mentioned the version that you sell.

Michel,

This letter warms our hearts. We’ve known that the original Abbey Road pressings are not the end-all and be-all that some audiophiles and record collectors think they are, and of course the same is true for the legendary Toshiba Pro-Use and MFSL discs.

Been there, done that, left them in the dust a long time ago. Now you know why. You own the pressing that trounces them all.

The fact that no one recommends the pressings we sell as superior to those commonly touted by the so-called experts just confirms that the work we do is difficult and simply cannot be accomplished without a staff and a budget, which, of course, no one in the audiophile or record collecting world has — staff or budget — besides us.

And that what we do is important. Essential even.

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Letter of the Week – “I put on the WHS and found out exactly how much better it could sound.”

Hot Stamper Pressings of Recordings by Rudy Van Gelder Available Now

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

Hey Tom,  

Well you guys did it again. I had a good promo copy of Baddest Hubbard, lively and big soundstage. I was listening and questioning how much better can it sound.

I put on the WHS and found out exactly how much better it could sound.

More natural, more relaxed, just better any way you cut it.

I knew it in the first ten seconds of track one; that Better Records sound is unmistakable.

Mike H.

Mike,

Glad you enjoyed it!

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Letter of the Week – “I’m so blown away with this Hot Stamper that I think it’s a bargain at $500.”

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of The Doors Available Now

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

Hi Tom,

I must confess, that like most audiophiles, I was not a believer in Hot Stampers. I thought my DCC Compact Classic and my 180 gram Box Set was the best. Boy was I dead wrong!

I have been buying Hot Stampers from you on a regular basis for the past two months. They truly allow me to hear what was intended in the recording studio and, man, is it breathtaking.

I received the Doors – LA Woman a couple of days ago and never in my wildest dreams did I ever think a record could be this realistic.

I couldn’t believe the amount of information I was hearing coming out of the groove of this LP — the biggest, most realistic staging and largest acoustic space I have ever heard in my life.

The highs were sweet and extended, the midrange was as natural as a midrange could ever be, and the bass was tight and rich with incredible weight down to the lowest region. Transparency and resolution on this LP are simply out of this world. I’m so blown away with this Hot Stamper that I think it’s a bargain at $500.00.

I truly believe you really have to experience a Hot Stamper, especially one like this, to see why I’m losing my mind. I’m slowly but surely replacing all of my favorite records with your Hot Stamper versions.

Thank you for this masterpiece! (more…)

More Customers Write Us About Our Amazing Pressings of Sgt. Pepper

beatlessgtHot Stamper Pressings of Sgt. Peppers Available Now

Below you will find some of the letters customers have sent us after hering one of our Hot Stamper reissue pressings of Sgt. Pepper. (More letters for the album can be found here.)

The Beatles are the only group to have their own page on the blog. No surprise there. We’ve written more about their music and sold more of their albums than we have for any other band.

Letter of the Week – “…you sell a product that is singular and unique. And completely worth every penny.”

Letter of the Week – “To this day, he refers to the wondrous sound he heard that night every time we get together.”


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