Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Blood, Sweat and Tears Available Now
This test is found in the track commentary for side two of our Hot Stamper listings for the album.
If you think you have a hot copy, see if yours does what our best copies do.
We also think that a record like this — a dynamic, full-spectrum recording, not overly concerned with detail — makes a much better Test Disc than the kind most audiophiles seem to prefer.
Patricia Barber it is not.
If you’re in the market for new speakers, take this record — or one like it — with you to the audition. Any speaker that can play this record properly deserves your consideration, or at the very least your respect.
In my experience not many speakers have what it takes to do this album justice.
The Blood, Sweat and Tears Spinning Wheel Test
The first thirty seconds are key. Here is what you should be listening for.
Piano, Cowbell, Snare
Side two starts off with a bang; note that the piano has real weight to it right from the git go. When the cowbell comes in it should not sound muffled in any way (it’s a bell, don’t you know), quickly followed by the solid-as-a-rock-snare (the best on record.)
The Brass
On the killer copies that first blast of brass will be completely free of grain or grunge, yet the brass instruments themselves (trumpets and trombone) have all their leading edge transients, their “bite,” fully intact. They’re not in any way muffled or smeared, yet the sound is never aggressive. If anything, the brass is so free from distortion and so tonally correct it should actually sound smooth.
