revelation

Hot Stamper pressings can come as quite a shock to their new owners.

Hearing a record with sound they had no idea was possible drives some of them to help others understand what that very special experience was like.

It happens to us regularly — it’s the nature of our business to find amazing pressings — and we love hearing that our customers are having their minds blown the way ours were when we played that same copy in one of our shootouts. These, then, are their stories.

Letter of the Week – “NEVER would I have thought a single record could make this kind of difference…”

Hot Stamper Pressings of Pink Floyd’s Albums Available Now

Dan, our letter writer, is a new convert to the world of Hot Stampers. Although his system is modest by his own admission, the sound he was able to conjure up in his living room was “…a revelation…”

An amazing sounding pressing of Dark Side can have that effect on you.

Hi Tom,

I received this DSOTM yesterday…

First I played the 180gm 25th anniversary release, so I listened to the first side. While it didn’t necessarily ‘grab’ me, I sat through and listened, with the assumption that I really needed to get a feel for this to do a somewhat critical A/B listening experience.

Then I put this Hot Stamper on.

From the very beginning, I heard vocals I never heard before, in my 12 years of listening to this album. There was such a dramatically engaging ‘dreamlike’ flow to the music, that I have never experienced before! The soundstage was so 3-dimensional, the speakers disappeared, and moment after moment, I completely forgot I was sitting in my living room!

NEVER would I have thought a single record could make this kind of difference… it was TRULY one of those rare experiences – a revelation, of recreating an actual concert in one’s listening room.

While my system is quite modest by most accounts, this is a new chapter in the music playback book, to hear/ listen to something that is so lifelike, everything else disappears.

I look forward to enjoying this for a lifetime.

Sincerely,
Dan E.

Dan started out by emailing me about having some records cleaned, especially a copy of the Dark Side on Heavy Vinyl remastered for the 25th Anniversary of its release, by Doug Sax with the assistance of Kevin Gray (basically just using Kevin’s mastering chain).

My less-than-artful reply:

Dan, this is not a good sounding record. Cleaning it won’t help it much. Boosted top, zero ambience, it’s a dog on most levels.

My excuse for being curt?

Simply this: Who has time to waste talking about a bad sounding record? The world is full of them.

Their shortcomings are obvious to anyone with even a halfway-decent stereo. (Apparently such stereos are in shorter supply than one would think.)

Everything being relative; the Heavy Vinyl beat Dan’s SACD, so naturally he concluded that it must be pretty good, since SACD is widely considered the latest and greatest digital software around.

But we here at Better Records think all this digital foolishness is a load of crap and a sure dead end.

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Letter of the Week – “I must say this is being quite an experience which I am enjoying very much.”

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Jethro Tull Available Now

Our customer Michel wrote to tell us how much he likes some of his Hot Stamper pressings after doing shootouts with others he owns, including a number of audiophile pressings.

Hi Tom,

I finally was able to spend the time to listen and compare my last three purchases. I must say this is being quite an experience which I am enjoying very much.

First up was Aqualung.

So here I did something backwards, as I listened to yours first, instead of the other way around. At first I thought it sounded thin and lacking. I discovered that this particular lp needed the gain controls to be turned up almost all the way in order to reveal itself. This was key. I did of course match volume when I compared the other pressings.

The more I put on the Classic 200gm or the DCC or the UK first press, or the MFSL, or another early US pressing, the better your LP sounded!

This is the very best I have ever heard Aqualung. Truly a stunning experience. This is how it is meant to be heard. Super happy with this one. Thank You.

Second was Stand Up.

Here I went back to normal and listened to my copies first which didn’t include anything of note except for the AP 45rpm. I found that for a UK Jethro Tull pressing the bass was indeed more boomy and warm than normal, which is nice.

I did find it lacking in oomph, but more importantly for me is the tone. The US LPs of the time have that warm deep fuzzy bass that oozes out of the speakers. I couldn’t find that with this UK copy.

It reminded me of the UK first press Aqualung in this regard. I would like to return it.

Third up was Let It Be.

So I had previously determined that the SHS [A++] Let it Be I had purchased prior was indeed the best copy I’d ever heard. So now I bought the WHS and have finally put it to the test here in the mountains.

OMG the woods cried out “play it again, play it again”!

This indeed is one truly amazing pressing. Its like listening to the master tape. I don’t know what else to say… speechless.

Simply dramatic warmth, clarity, punch, dynamic range, and the vinyl is so quiet.

This is truly super worthy of the WHS badge… it just took all the good stuff from the SHS and dialed it all in perfectly and then gave it a little caffeine.

What an amazing discovery BR has made here. I’m so glad I was able to purchase this one.

Who would have ever known it could get this good.

As an individual trying to figure this out, my experience says the chances of success are less than 4%, which is why your business model is working. Like one of your customers wrote “I now have twelve copies in total… eleven of them are useless”.

For every BR lp I’ve purchased there are multiple copies going in the sell pile.

Once again, many thanks!
Michel

Michel,

Glad you liked your Hot Stamper pressings of Aqualung and Let It Be.

As for Stand Up, it has been more than a decade since we played a domestic pressing of Stand Up that could do what the better imports can do. Here is an old commentary to that effect.

Down the road, as you continue to improve your playback, at some point you should probably try another one of our Hot Stamper import pressings of Stand Up. On our system it’s no contest.

And of course we stand behind the copy we sent you with a money back guarantee, so of course you can return it.

Best, TP

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Letter of the Week – “It has been a long time since I’ve connected with whatever it was that I connected with on this LP.”

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Stephen Stills Available Now

One of our good customers wrote us a letter recently about his Stephen Stills Hot Stamper pressing.

You can read his first letter here.

About a week later he followed up with this one. It seems he fell in love with it. That can happen when you play a good sounding copy after nearing nothing but junk your whole life.

Hi Tom,
That NWHS [more here] of Stills’ first is EPIC! It is now in my top ten desert island discs.

I no longer have words… it’s just f**king epic. Obviously, I had no idea… not a clue.

After closed eyes listening to the last song on side 1, I was like WTF, that was really really intense… vocals… guitars.

So when it was done I looked at the back of the cover to see what was what… aha… Clapton!

It has been a long time since I’ve connected with whatever it was that I connected with on this LP.

What a gift. Simply outrageous sound.

Michel

Michel,

You and I both know that the connection you speak of is the only one that matters when listening to music.

That Stills record is definitely going to my desert island too. I bought mine in 1970 and I listen to it to this very day.

I’ve written a fair amount about the album. Used to use it as a test disc, something I have not discussed on this blog because there are not enough hours in the day to talk about all the records I have used as test discs. But this album make a great test disc if you’ve got big speakers and like to play them good and loud.

Here is an excerpt from an older commentary discussing Bill Halverson‘s superb engineering.

Some of the most sought-after records in the world, as well as the most difficult to find with high quality sound, are those involving the various groupings of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.

This album is no exception. It’s Stills’ masterpiece, a record I’ve been playing since I was in high school. The sound on the LPs I bought over the years has been pretty consistently disappointing. It’s refreshing to actually find a copy like this that lets you hear the album the way you remember it.

There’s a very good chance — bordering on a certainty — that the copy you played back then was no doubt just as poor sounding, but you remember it sounding good.

That, more than anything else, is why we audiophiles keep chasing after so many classic albums from our younger days. We’re trying to find the record that can give us the musical satisfaction in the present that we achieved so easily in the past, before we knew anything about audio and record pressings.

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We Get Letters – “The first time I listened, that moment elicited an involuntary cry, ‘Wow!’”

More of the music of Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)

Dear Tom and Fred,

I just got through listening to my latest haul of records, including a few Pink Floyd White Hot Stampers. They are just fantastic. As is the SRV The Sky is Crying, and every other record I’ve bought from you. They are transformative.

One that deserves special mention is the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto I just got. I expected the violin to sound amazing, and it does. I did not expect to be blown away when the full orchestra joins in. The first time I listened, that moment elicited an involuntary cry, ‘Wow!’

The second time I listened, it evoked the same response. It’s simply magical. Thank you.

Finally, I got a WHS of the Beatles Help! I really love the album. Nearly every song is great. One song that did not move me as I hoped was Yesterday. I read on your blog that some German pressings have amazing versions of Yesterday. Even if the rest sound like crap, I’d be very interested to buy one if you have it laying around.

Thanks again for all you do. I should mention that another of your loyal customers, ab_ba, turned me on to your work, and is largely responsible for helping me find my way.

Dear Bill,

Some thoughts:

As for the Tchaikovsky, glad to hear you liked it so much. Finding a recording that gets the orchestra right is ten times harder than finding a record with a good sounding violin. This we have learned through experience.

I used to think these Heifetz records were a bit crude, but now I realize I just couldn’t play them right back in those days.

As for Help!, we don’t buy the German pressings anymore because it is just too hard to sell a record at the prices we charge in which only one song sounds great. You can find them easily enough if you want to go that route.

As for ab_ba, glad he was able to help you find a better way.

We both owe him a debt of gratitude in that respect.

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Letter of the Week – “I had no idea that vinyl could produce this sound.”

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Crosby, Stills, Nash and (Sometimes) Young

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

Hey Tom, 

Tom, I just listened to the White Hot Stamper (A+++) CSNY album.

Amazing. I had no idea that vinyl could produce this sound. Worth every penny.

The sound at low volume is amazing. The sound at high volume is spectacular.

The clarity, the depth, the soundstage are very rich and alive with color and presence.

Thank you! I am now going to investigate your piece on the cleaning process.

Rocco

Rocco,

Glad you liked this copy as much as we did! Deja Vu is indeed a very special album, one I have been obsessed with since I first became an audiophile.

I was a big Crosby, Stills and Nash fan already — the first album being life-changing to a 15 year old music lover such as myself, on 8-track tape in the car no less — so it was only natural that I would fall in love with Deja Vu when it came out in 1970.

Years went by and then, oddly enough, my love for the music was reignited by a pressing that came out 13 years after the album’s first release, on a label you may have heard of, Mobile Fidelity.

I realized instantly that Mobile Fidelity had indeed improved upon the average original’s sound. (Not a high bar considering how awful sounding most originals are.)

It would take me and my staff many years, at least another 13 or so, to come across the domestic reissues that trounced the MoFi and showed me how colored, compressed, thick, blurry and limited it was.

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Letter of the Week – “It feels like you are at the concert.”

More of the Music of Emerson, Lake and Palmer

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

Hey Tom, 

One of my favorite albums growing up was pictures at an exhibition, but just for the music not the sound. I sold my domestic copy years ago but recall it was a muddy mess and always the worst sounding of all my ELP albums.

Fast forward decades later and I am totally blown away at what an amazing sounding album this really can be! Now the quality of the music matches the quality of the sound. The tonal balance is superb with just the right amount of weight down low. I never thought this record could sound this good. The wall of Organ sound as you put it when cranked to the lush acoustic guitar and tenderness of Greg’s vocals. It feels like you are at the concert.

That is why I am so impressed with all the hot stamper live albums I own. It shows a concert experience can be replicated with the right equipment but, most importantly, with the right pressing!

An amazing album and a great price to boot.

Thank you!!

Rob

Rob,

Fantastic to hear, thanks for your letter.

The “muddy mess” you refer to was no doubt the result of many things, but one of the main problems with your old copy was that it was the domestic pressing, which is made from second generation masters and therefore hopelessly outclassed by the right early Island pressings, which are of course the only ones we sell.

Even if you were lucky enough to have the right Island pressing, you would have had to know how to clean it using the right machines and fluids.

Not many audiophiles have either, and nobody had them back in the day, because they hadn’t been invented yet!

Your experience is what good records are all about, and we are gratified to have played a part in helping to bring that music to life in your very own listening room.

You can be at the concert as often as you want now. How could anyone put a price on that?

Oh, some folks find a way.

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Letter of the Week – “I am rocking at a different level now”

Hot Stamper Pressings of Let It Be Available Now

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

Hey Tom,  

I was just now able to give this Let It Be Hot Stamper a thorough listen. I really sat back and put my listening ears on, as I have listened to this album a lot, both on vinyl and on CD. 

It took about three songs into the LP before I was truly able to comprehend what I was hearing and how different it was compared to any other copy I have heard. I still am not sure exactly how to describe it in words, but it is amazing and unlike anything I have ever heard before.

Not only did I hear things I haven’t heard before, the things I have heard hundreds of times prior reached out and grabbed me like I couldn’t ever foresee. I heard a voice in the background of the opening to “Get Back” in clarity this time, where on other copies it was not much more than a mumble.

I guess the closest I can describe it is that this LP has a combination of punch, clarity and realism that I never knew existed on any recorded media before.

Some of the guitar riffs were beyond description. The voices are “live” and the bass is incredibly tight.

Now, being a collector of records for both listening pleasure and sheer collectability, I have paid a lot for some rare stuff. Because of that, I was very leery of paying this crazy price for this copy. Even after listening to it twice, I was still wanting to tell you that it sounded amazingly good, but I was going to send it back because it was just too much money.

But, I then asked myself, do you want to send it back? My immediate answer to myself was hell no, it sounds way too good and I need to have this for a demo disc to show my friends.

Anyway, I am impressed, Tom. I will be an avid watcher going forward and will be picking off some additional Hot Stampers as they show up on your site. Someone wrote you a while back and said he was better off getting a few Hot Stampers instead of a bunch of run-of-the-mill vinyl. I agree!

I am rocking at a different level now.

Bryan S.

Thanks Bryan, happy to be of service, as always.

I get what you mean about being leery of paying so much money for one record — you are not alone in feeling that way — but I see that you had no trouble recognizing the superior quality of the record we sent you, whose sound is where all its value rightfully lies.

Of course one could point out that the music is pretty good too.

Who can put a price on hearing some of the best music The Beatles ever recorded with sound you could have never imagined?

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Letter of the Week – “Holy smokes, the 3/3 copy transforms the musical experience.”

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of The Doors Available Now

A letter from a good customer tells of his experience playing a top copy of the album.

Hi Guys,

Just when I thought you guys could not surprise me, you did it again. Morrison Hotel was not in my collection when I was growing up although I was familiar with some of the tracks on the album. I picked up a SHS 2/1.5 copy; it was good and I added it to my collection. I saw the WHS 3/3 copy come up on the site and thought I would give it a try because of my past experience (Jackson Browne, Beatles – White Album, Crowded House).

Holy smokes, my intuition was correct: the 3/3 copy transforms the musical experience. I don’t know how or why this happens; how a SHS side 2 that sounds good goes exponentially up with a WHS 3 copy; it just does. When one gets a WHS 3/3 in single album as opposed to a 2 pack; it is a musical treat beyond compare. Thanks as usual.

Mike

Mike, I have had that experience quite often, hundreds of times in fact. The 3+ takes the music to a place no other copy can take it, and it takes you with it. This is why we do shootouts, and why you must do them too, if owning the highest quality pressings is important to you.

Shootouts are the only way to answer the most important question in all of audio: “compared to what?”

Without shootouts, how can you begin to know the specific characteristics of the sound of the pressings you own?

We write a lot about that subject, and here is a bit of an overview that we think our readers will find helpful.

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Letter of the Week – “…it was like there was a blanket taken off the speakers.”

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Creedence Clearwater Revival Available Now

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

Hey Tom,   

Just some comments on the records purchased in July. Some of these records were a night and day experience for me. [For more tales of night and day experiences, we refer to them as “revelations,” please click here.]

I bought ten years after a space in time and nilsson son of shmilsson from the columbia record club back in the early seventies. I’ve taken good care of them and thought they sounded very good so I didn’t need to upgrade. You mentioned that we’ve never heard these records sound like this, so I thought I’d take a chance.

WOW! Space in time, son of schmillson, eat a peach, it was like there was a blanket taken off the speakers. Everything sounded sooo much better, more involving, the sound jumped out at me. And not that in-your-face shrill “run for the volume control” sound which was so prevalent in the late 80’s and into the 90’s. 

CCR cosmo’s factory, I’ve got an original mofi copy which sounded really good (I must have lucked out, 90% of the mofi’s I bought didn’t have a problem with sibilance. The ones that did have that problem and the dead as a doorknob presentation — anadisc 200 — are all gone.)

The super hot stamper of Cosmos factory on side 1 completely smoked the mofi, side 2 they were comparable. The super hot stamper had more depth to it. You could hear into the recording, making the experience more lifelike.

Shane

Shane,

Thanks for writing. We love to hear from our satisfied customers!

Comparing the sound of the pressings you owned — including audiophile LPs in this case — versus the Hot Stamper pressings we sent you will allow you to recognize some fairly consistent differences. We’ve listed them below for handy reference and further study.

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Letter of the Week – “The copy I bought from you 100% blew my mind, with no wiggle room….completely blown!”

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Led Zeppelin Available Now

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

Hi Tom,
I’ve been waiting for the right time to play the RL WHS LZII. It finally happened last night. I do have a LZ II with RL on side 1, and I was previously quite happy with it. I did prefer it over all the other copies, both regular and audiophile.

However, the copy I bought from you 100% blew my mind, with no wiggle room….completely blown!

JB’s drum kit is coming right out of the speakers like there is no tomorrow. I think I lost my mind while listening to Heartbreaker, a song I like but never really fully enjoyed……until NOW.

The room is never big enough for this one. Those punches of sound were so punchy, like George Foreman hitting Ali… massive.

Side 2 of this album is nothing short of phenomenal. I’m not sure if I own another LP that rocks like this RL one does. No wonder you made a top ten list just so you could put this one on it.

Someone will ask me or comment…why on earth would you spend $2400 on a record? To that person I will say… I am not buying a record. I am buying an experience that I can repeat as many times as I like, over and over again. To me, listening to this music in this way is priceless.

I truly don’t have the words to express what utter joy my being felt while listening to this. Can’t wait to do it again.

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