lacks-transparency

These 20+ vintage records lack transparency. They are difficult to “hear into.”

The best properly-cleaned vintage pressings are usually quite transparent.

Which means that the records listed here are not particularly good pressings, or the recordings themselves lack this important quality.

Either way, they are best avoided by those looking for top quality sound.

Bill Evans – Live and Learn

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Bill Evans Available Now

A classic case of live and learn. Many years ago we had played copies of the record and thought the sound was fine, shootout material in fact.

Flash forward to 2015 or 2016.  Now it sounds thin, flat and opaque.

Worse, it’s actually in mono.

On today’s modern stereos it leaves a lot to be desired, and for that reason we say skip it.

A stereo recording reissued in mono for no apparent reason?

What were they smoking over there at Milestone? 

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On This Copy of Espana, Capriccio Espagnol Was Where the Action Was

More of the music of Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908)

This London Whiteback (CS 6006) TAS List Super Disc really IS a Super Disc, with SUPERB SUPER Hot Stamper sound on both sides. It easily bested the Blueback we put up against it, and most of the pressings of Ansermet’s performance on London/Decca that we like (CS 6438).

What this album has going for it over the London/Decca with Ansermet is an out of this world Capriccio Espagnol, with the kind of orchestral color and excitement that rivals the composer’s Scheherazade and arguably exceeds it, compressing as it does its bright orchestration into fewer than 15 minutes of unalloyed brilliance.

I would argue that the sound here easily bests nine out of ten copies of LSC 2446, quite a feat when you consider what that record is selling for these days.

(Most audiophiles learn too late just how bad the average pressing of Reiner’s performance is. Take our advice, if you’re going to buy one without hearing it first, make sure you can return it. Chances are, if you’re a critical listener, you will want to. If you’re not a critical listener, feel free to buy the Classic Heavy Vinyl pressing. Although it sounds godawful to us, most audiophiles seem to like it just fine, a fact we regret to say does not reflect well on our fellow hobbyists. Or the venerable HP himself for that matter, as it made his TAS List.)

Who can resist these sublime orchestral works? To quote an infamous label, they are an audiophile’s dream come true. Click on the tabs above to read more about them.

We’ve long been of the opinion that only a small percentage of the copies of CS 6006 actually live up to the hype associated with its status on the Tas List. Our recent shootout provided more supporting evidence, as this copy was dramatically better than the other, more original, one we played.

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Mozart / Mendelssohn / The Heifetz-Piatigorsky Concerts

Hot Stamper Pressings Featuring the Violin

Superb Recordings with Jascha Heifetz Performing

Reviewed in 2011.

The Mozart side of this Red Seal pressing from 1975 sounds AMAZING. I have never heard better staging for a chamber work of this kind. All five instruments are so clearly set apart from each other and tonally correct (for the most part) that it is nothing less than fascinating to be able to follow each instrument as it weaves its way through the score.

If you’ve suffered through the horrendously sour and screechy recordings Heifetz and Piatigorsky are known for in audiophile circles — LDS 2513 and LDS 6159 — you will be glad to know that this side one sounds NOTHING like them.   

(Reversing your polarity on LDS 6159 helps but it can’t fix sound that’s that bad.)

Side one is, as we say, wonderfully clear and transparent. It does not have as much warmth and fullness as one might want, so for those of you who have plenty of tubey magic to bring to the recordings you play, this may just be the best chamber work you have ever heard. It is a touch hot in the 3-4k region but this is a minor quibble. Tons of recordings from this era are, including most RCAs and Mercuries; Deccas and Londons less so.

Side Two Sucks

Side two of this pressing is smeary, boxy and opaque, a sound we come across quite often when playing the scores of Golden Age classical recordings we audition every month here at Better Records.

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Prokofiev / Symphonic Suite of Waltzes / Schweiger – Cisco Reviewed

More of the music of Sergei Prokofiev

UPDATE

We haven’t played a copy of this record in years, but back in the day we liked it, so let’s call it a “B-” with the caveat that the older the review, the more likely we are to have changed our minds. Not sure if we would still agree with what we wrote back when this record came out, but here it is anyway.  

Another superb choice from Cisco. These shorter pieces really come to life here. The sound has more hall than the Mozart title they did and every bit the lifelike tonality and transparency.

UPDATE 2026

None of Cisco’s records turned out to be transparent in the least, so that’s a big red flag right there. The music is quite good, so if you don’t pay much you won’t get hurt too badly by the mediocre-at-best sound. (more…)

Striking It Rich Is a Tough One

Hot Stamper Pressings of Folk Rock Albums Available Now

We just did out first shootout for this album in more than five years. Our last one was 2019.

When albums are hard to find with good sound and audiophile quality surfaces, we often go five or more years between shootouts.

Our commentary from 2019 follows:

Normally this record sounds thick and dead. It’s very rare to find a copy like this that has any real transparency. The vocals are sweet and silky and the string instruments are more clear in the mix.

There’s nothing more frustrating than a record that defies every effort to hear into it, typically the feeling I get when listening to Dan Hicks’ recordings.

But on this pressing I could actually appreciate the music without having to fight the sound.

The tracks with violin accompaniment tend to sound the best for some reason. Some tracks are recorded a bit dry for my taste, but others are just right.

This is probably the band’s masterpiece, all things considered. It’s the most consistent album of theirs overall and has wonderful high points in I Scare Myself and Canned Music.

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