I am getting sad. Nobody wants to compare my White Hot Stamper to their own. Someone must be familiar with it. It sold 2 000 000 copies in the U.S.A. alone.
Better Records White Hot Stampers: Now the Story Can Be Told!
Just got shipping notification, so now the story can be told!
Better-Records.com is a small, incredibly valuable yet little known company run out of Thousand Oaks, CA by Tom Port. The business started out many years ago when Tom Port noticed no two records sound quite the same. Evidently Tom is a sound quality fanatic on a scale maybe even higher than mine, and he started getting together with some of his audio buds doing shoot-outs in a friendly competition to see who has the best sounding copy.
Over time this evolved into Better-Records.com, where the best of the best of these shoot-outs can be bought by regular guys like me who live for the sound, but just don't have the time or the drive to go through all the work of finding these rare gems.
The difference in quality between your average pressing and a White Hot Stamper is truly incredible. If you don't have the system or the ears of course you may never notice. If you do though then nothing else comes even close.
Tom will say things like only one in twenty copies is Hot Stamper worthy. This doesn't even come close to conveying the magnitude. Last night for example, wife and I were listening to our White Hot Stamper of Tchaikovsky 1812. Then we played another White Hot Tchaikovsky. Then we played the Tchaikovsky tracks from my copy of Clair deLune.
Without hearing a White Hot you would think Clair de Lune is about as good as it gets. After two sides of Tom's wonders it was flat, dull, mid-fi. Not even in the same ball park. And yet this is quite honestly a very good record. How many of these he has to clean, play, and compare to find the rare few magical sounding copies, I don't even know!
Copies of Hot Stamper quality being so hard to find means of course they are not always available. This is not like going to the record store. There are not 50 copies of Year of the Cat just sitting around. Most of the time there are no copies at all. When there are, they get snapped up fast. Especially the popular titles. Fleetwood Mac Rumours, Tom Petty Southern Accents, whole bunch of em like this get sold pretty fast even in spite of the astronomically outrageous prices they command. Then again, since people pay - and fast - maybe not so outrageous after all.
So I spent months looking, hoping for Year of the Cat to show up. When it did, YES! Click on it and.... Sorry, this copy is SOLD! What the...? It was only up a day! If that!
Well now this puts me in a bit of a spot. Because, see, besides loving music and being obsessed with sound quality, I'm also enthusiastic about sharing this with others. With most things, no problem. Eric makes an endless supply of Tekton Moabs. Talking up Tekton or Townshend or whatever has no effect on my ability to get mine. With Better-records.com however the supply is so limited the last thing I need is more competition. Bit of a bind.
Even so, can't keep my big mouth shut. Been telling everyone how great these are. One day someone buys one based on my recommendation, Tom finds out, next thing you know I'm a Good Customer. What does that mean? Well is there anything you're looking for? Year of the Cat. That's a hard one. Tell me about it. Might take a while. Take all the time you need. Just get me one. Please. Okay.
That was months ago. Other day, hey we're doing a shoot-out. No guarantees but should be able to find you one. So for the last few days I was all Are we there yet? Are we there yet? And now finally, like I said, shipped!
So now I have my Grail, and the story can be told. Got a nice little collection of Hot Stampers, and will be adding more, but this for me is The One. Might not be for you, but that is the beauty of it all. Many of us have that one special record we love. If you do too, and you want to hear it like listening to the master tape, this is the way to go.
Better-Records.com is a small, incredibly valuable yet little known company run out of Thousand Oaks, CA by Tom Port. The business started out many years ago when Tom Port noticed no two records sound quite the same. Evidently Tom is a sound quality fanatic on a scale maybe even higher than mine, and he started getting together with some of his audio buds doing shoot-outs in a friendly competition to see who has the best sounding copy.
Over time this evolved into Better-Records.com, where the best of the best of these shoot-outs can be bought by regular guys like me who live for the sound, but just don't have the time or the drive to go through all the work of finding these rare gems.
The difference in quality between your average pressing and a White Hot Stamper is truly incredible. If you don't have the system or the ears of course you may never notice. If you do though then nothing else comes even close.
Tom will say things like only one in twenty copies is Hot Stamper worthy. This doesn't even come close to conveying the magnitude. Last night for example, wife and I were listening to our White Hot Stamper of Tchaikovsky 1812. Then we played another White Hot Tchaikovsky. Then we played the Tchaikovsky tracks from my copy of Clair deLune.
Without hearing a White Hot you would think Clair de Lune is about as good as it gets. After two sides of Tom's wonders it was flat, dull, mid-fi. Not even in the same ball park. And yet this is quite honestly a very good record. How many of these he has to clean, play, and compare to find the rare few magical sounding copies, I don't even know!
Copies of Hot Stamper quality being so hard to find means of course they are not always available. This is not like going to the record store. There are not 50 copies of Year of the Cat just sitting around. Most of the time there are no copies at all. When there are, they get snapped up fast. Especially the popular titles. Fleetwood Mac Rumours, Tom Petty Southern Accents, whole bunch of em like this get sold pretty fast even in spite of the astronomically outrageous prices they command. Then again, since people pay - and fast - maybe not so outrageous after all.
So I spent months looking, hoping for Year of the Cat to show up. When it did, YES! Click on it and.... Sorry, this copy is SOLD! What the...? It was only up a day! If that!
Well now this puts me in a bit of a spot. Because, see, besides loving music and being obsessed with sound quality, I'm also enthusiastic about sharing this with others. With most things, no problem. Eric makes an endless supply of Tekton Moabs. Talking up Tekton or Townshend or whatever has no effect on my ability to get mine. With Better-records.com however the supply is so limited the last thing I need is more competition. Bit of a bind.
Even so, can't keep my big mouth shut. Been telling everyone how great these are. One day someone buys one based on my recommendation, Tom finds out, next thing you know I'm a Good Customer. What does that mean? Well is there anything you're looking for? Year of the Cat. That's a hard one. Tell me about it. Might take a while. Take all the time you need. Just get me one. Please. Okay.
That was months ago. Other day, hey we're doing a shoot-out. No guarantees but should be able to find you one. So for the last few days I was all Are we there yet? Are we there yet? And now finally, like I said, shipped!
So now I have my Grail, and the story can be told. Got a nice little collection of Hot Stampers, and will be adding more, but this for me is The One. Might not be for you, but that is the beauty of it all. Many of us have that one special record we love. If you do too, and you want to hear it like listening to the master tape, this is the way to go.
441 responses Add your response
millercarbon, Just take the compliment in stride and with some humor instead of constantly being aggressive as a defense. You wrote another very decent and reasonable post on another thread today. I started responding to it and then thought you would just become your angry self so I skipped it. thecarpathian fell into the trap here. Arguing when you are angry is not your strongest feature. Do not do it. You just dig the hole under yourself. |
au_lait ... I'm in Newbury Park. I've been to Record Outlet many times. I've known the owner "Casey" since he worked at the Salvation Army at "Wizzens" in Agoura. He used to keep all of the good rock records for himself, but he saved the good jazz, classical, and opera for me. That's when they used to sell used records for fifty-cents ... and then they would put them on sale from time to time for a quarter each. Those were the days. : -) When this Covid thing settles down, and you're in town to visit your mom, send me a message via private message and perhaps we can have a listening session at my place. Take care ... Frank |
thecarpathian fell into the trap here.I did indeed. I foolishly thought that by pointing out to him that he indeed has much to offer this forum, his knowledge and experience would be more well received if he would drop the narcissistic condescension that is weaved into his posts, and the calling out of his transgressions would disappear. But instead of taking it at face value, he does what he is known for: Attack. Self praise. Belittling. Accusations of hatred. Interesting that he writes the very things he rails against. |
Well I didn't select a White Hot Stamper, but I just purchased two Super Hot Stampers. I have the two records that I had purchased for $0.99 a decade or so ago. I confirmed with their team that your first purchase it 100% risk free. They will refund the full payment and even reimburse you for the return shipment if not happy. One of my concerns has always been that their high value is non-transferrable, if you will. I don't plan on ever selling any of my records but there is some satisfaction in knowing what you could get for a record if you did change your mind. I will report back when they are received. |
Far as I know ALL purchases have the same 100% risk free guarantee. When it comes to resale value I told Tom if he ever figures out how to put a laser hologram on the vinyl so subsequent buyers know it is genuine then resale values will grow and so will his business. But that is just my idea. Bottom line, I have learned over the years there's so many details of running a business we can't even know, but the guy actually running it has been dealing with them since day one, and armchair quarterbacks are a dime a dozen. Heck if I put my mind to it I could probably make a pretty good case for why Mercedes should fire Hamilton and hire me. Even though I won't fit in the car, but my backseat driving skills are world class! |
"...to put a laser hologram on the vinyl so subsequent buyers know it is genuine then resale values will grow..." As an idea it seems good, but... Once you order from Better Records you have some reassurance/faith that the record is likely good. Once you are buying that same record from someone, you do not have such reassurance. That person has been playing it and was treating it whatever way she/he treats own records. For all you know, the record may now be just as any other record on the market. How many people here would go for a relatively ordinary title, pay almost Better Records prices, and know that the record has last been graded by Better Records some time and an unknown number of plays ago? At the same time, once you consider paying Better Records prices, you are way too deep in to be thinking about resale value. |
glupson “CDs are so 20th century. (records are so 19th)” It seems that vinyl records are so 21st century: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.statista.com/chart/amp/7699/lp-sales-in-the-united-states/ “Continuing one of the more surprising comebacks of the digital age, vinyl album sales in the United States have grown for the 15th consecutive year. In 2020, 27.5 million LPs were sold in the United States, up 46 percent compared to 2019 and more than 30-fold compared to 2006 when the vinyl comeback began.” |
unreceivedogma, I was actually poking on how old the technologies are, just like the writer of that article was ("...it’s still interesting to witness a hundred year-old technology come back from near extinction.") As for the statistics, it shows up around here from time to time and somehow only parts from the article get highlighted. I would not hold my breath for records to become 21st century force. Or, as the other part of the article stated, we should put in perspective. "Factoring in streaming and downloads of single tracks, however, that number drops to 3.6 percent of album equivalent music consumption, which puts things in perspective." To put it in even more of a perspective, those numbers probably do not include used record sales so true idea about how big of a market records are may be unclear. I am just guessing that. Having said that, I do not stream (except for Internet radio) and have just bought a few records. |
"In 2020, 27.5 million LPs were sold in the United States, up 46 percent compared to 2019" Playing with these numbers it comes (roughly) to this. In 2019, 18 million people bought one record each (over the course of 12 months). In 2020, same 18 million people bought one more record each and half of them bought an additional record. So, 9 million people bought one record and 9 million people bought two records each. If we propose that vinyl comeback means that people really like records, we could assume that each vinyl-lover bought more than one record in 2019. Let’s say they bought two which is still a fairly low number for someone into records and who is going through keeping and maintaining vinyl-playing equipment. That would make it 9 million people who bought two records each in 2019. One record every six months. Now, is it safe to assume that in reality an average vinyl lover bought at least four or five records in 2019? That would bring us to, maybe, 4 million buyers in 2019. As impressive as the percentage of growth appears to be, it may really bring us to everyone just buying an extra record, two, or three in 2020. That would, optimistically, be one extra record every four months. Which does not seem to me to be some feverish unstoppable shopping. Of course, I may be wrong on all of the above. I was just trying to imagine how many people really buy (new) records and what is the dynamics of their dedication. |
Maybe the "comeback" wouldn’t be so "surprising" if the "journalist" would take his eyes off his canned narrative and take a look at actual, you know, history. Then it would be clear analog is the golden age, today as much as ever. Analog was the gold standard for over 100 years before the CD. Then the whole time since it remained the gold standard in terms of sound quality. Today more than ever. All that happened was we had this flash in the pan called digital, that promised what it could not deliver: perfect sound forever. Masses of people still care more for convenient noise and are unwilling to put out the minimal effort required to play a record. But the ones who are willing to do even a little quickly realize there never was any there there with digital. So it isn’t really surprising at all. Heck people like Fremer and me saw this coming 40 years ago. It just always takes a while for the masses to catch up with the leaders. |
You incorrectly state that digital is a ’flash in the pan’. Digital has been around for decades, is overwhelmingly dominating the industry, and is going nowhere. Perhaps you are ignorant of the phrase and that is why you used it incorrectly. I was familiar with that phrase 40 years ago. It always takes a while for the masses to catch up with the leaders. |
'It just always takes a while for the masses to catch up with the leaders." I followed the leader and bought a record from Better Records. Where did it take me? To the point that nobody is interested in listening to that record for her/himself despite me offering it. It may be that masses have not reached critical mass yet and that I am, in fact, some kind of a junior leader. |
I don't know what this says or doesn't say but the two best sounding records I own are a $160 ($150 on "sale") super hot stamper of Bloomfield, Kooper, Still's 'Super Session' and a $4 copy of Huey Lewis and the News 'Sports' from my local record shop. That's over MoFi's and Analogue Productions records. My records are cleaned with a Spin Clean basic and handled with cotton gloves. Is the Huey Lewis a hot stamper? I can not say. It does in my opinion sonically match the super hot stamper in almost every way with the hot stamper edging it out a just a bit . Albeit I'm judging two completely different eras and recordings against each other. However both these albums robustly stand out in my roughly 150 LP collection ranging from as I stated MoFi's to mint original pressings from discogs to bargain bin record shop records. I'm not for or against Better Records. I'm not sending back my Super Session LP though. As gathered from above it's the best sounding record in my collection as of now. But I am also fully aware of the blind luck of the $4 Huey Lewis album that seemed to slip unplayed or even inspected at the local shop (the "decent" quality bulk bin items are usually at least $6!). I look at Better Records like this. All of us audiophiles know we have a good 5 go to rock solid never get old must have albums on that deserted island. Getting a few of those albums in hot stamper and super hot stamper form and maybe saving your favorite album for that expensive white hot stamper is not something crazy in my opinion. Given this over the course of a good period of time. It will be for me anyway. If your hobby is extensive record collecting disregard everything I've just said. My two pennies have already bloated to an exorbitant amount. This has been a great thread though in so many ways. ;) |
Interesting you mention "Sports". I have an original mint pressing that I hadn't played in many years. I was in the process of cleaning all my records on my Okki Nokki and after I played "Sports" I was blown away at how good it sounded. The last time I played it I had a different analog front end, but still I couldn't believe the detail and energy coming from that record. Just luck or what? I'm going to play it again tomorrow to make sure. |
Nothing like that on my copy. Walking on a Thin Line has a great bass line, all the rest is average, not great, not bad, just average. Right on par with Alan Parsons Tales of Mystery and Imagination, not as good as Dream Weaver. I do have lots of really fine sounding pressings. What this goes to show is what I have been saying, tremendous variability, not everyone will hear tremendous improvement from a Hot Stamper compared to every record they have. This is very much a thinking audiophile's game. |
Eric yes it appears we both have amazing copies of Sports. It was one of the first albums I bought when I got into vinyl collecting 6 years ago. Miller the bass on Walking on a Thin line on my copy has amazing depth and tact. It has all the audiophile buzz words. Finally Found a Home sounds even better! Its always fun getting a $50+ mofi or AP record and seeing if it lives up to the Huey. Usually not even close. Im not dumping on mobile fidelity or other remastering shops. They put out great sounding records. Analogue Productions 180g and 200g Stevie Ray Vaughan releases have amazing sound. If you want an amazing clean new record with all the bells and whistles (stickers, add-ons, posters, cutouts, gatefold jacket) and perfect artwork then by all means they are more than suitable. I was in the boat for a few years believing everything mofi, AP and others did was far superior to the originals. I drank that master tape Kool aid. Well except my Huey which I thought was an anomaly on its own. It all hit me a month ago when I was listening to a VG+ (nothing fancy) original pressing of Hot Tuna's debut album (a live album and even through the scratches and pops i was hearing amazing sound and AMAZING bass and mids. It clicked that none of the remastered works can come close to matching the bass and midrange of originals that are done right. In my ears anyway. |
Right. The difference is huge. The Year of the Cat MoFi I had recently was so awful I sent it to Tom for him and the boys to get a good laugh out of it. There's a Pink Floyd DSOTM remaster I bought many years ago that one day I decided to pull out and even though it had been MANY YEARS and my system had changed dramatically over that time still within a minute or so my skin is crawling thinking this cannot be right. Where is the detail? Dynamics? This thing sucks! So I pulled out one of my old copies and sure enough, night and day. Neil Diamond Taproot Manuscript, my original copy is quite good, no one would ever say there is anything wrong with it, not at all. But compare to my Super Hot copy, night and day! This is like my Fleetwood Mac Rumours, where the worst of my four copies is the Nautilus Half Speed Mastered audiophile pressing! The original vintage vinyl is better. The 45RPM reissue is a little bit better still. But then you hear the White Hot, no contest, the others are not even in the same league! The question is not "Is it better?" The question is, "How can it be SO MUCH BETTER?!?!?!?!!" I WISH I could get some of these for less. Tried one guy who swore up and down he had Hot Stamper level quality. Nope. Not even. Oh well. They are out there, of course. When you get one, or even if you think you have one, celebrate! Celebrate! Dance to the music! One is the loneliest number. Etc. |
Just to chime in as I now am listening to my “bad” copy of CSN&Y 4 Way Street. I do love the music (which is central to buying WHSs) The bad copy was enjoyable but, now listening to the same WHS, the difference is stunning! The extra layer of SQ is obvious. But be advised, IMO, the SQ of a WHS needs to be combined with music you know and love. Even buying an artist that you love, if the music is not up to snuff, the WHS may bot be worth it-IME. But just to underline the WHS experience, the shockingly good sound truly takes one’s breath away! What could be better? |
Sorry, I meant no disrespect. I just don't consider Al Stewart as anything worth cherishing. I try not to poop on anyone's party so forgive me if you will. There's no accounting for musical taste. This record sounds very good, but in the end leaves me feeling empty from an artistic standpoint. There's my review of it. Take of it what you will. Now if you ever bring up anything by Jethro Tull you might not hear the end of it. I don't consider their music worthy of wiping my A$$ with. ;) Cheers |
Tom had Aqualung last year, a copy he raved about saying it was so good he needed another category above White Hot. Went on and on describing in detail making it sound so awesome I was tempted to fork over the astronomical $600 or whatever it was just to hear for myself- and I don't even know what is on it other than the one title track! Probably that number freaks people out. But he sold it, and the big titles bring even more. The craziest part is he told me his prices are LOWER now than they used to be! Because his business has GROWN he is able to do so much more volume and that has allowed him to lower prices a lot. |
Quality isn't unknown. Their business model would collapse if they lied. I have a dozen Hot Stampers and all of them sound much better than 95% of my 2800 lps. It took 10 seconds of hearing the first one to realize it is real. I buy lots of white label promos and an A+ to A++ is better than most of them in sound quality. The test pressings I own also are at A++ level. The price isn't excessive. To get an A++ requires buying 50 copies and listening to them all. Perhaps 3 can be sold and the rest go on eBay at $10. The A+++ show up once a year or less for many titles. This is why an A+++ copy of Abbey Road will sell for $899. Perhaps once ever 2 years will one show up. |
A tp of Combat Rock I own was $325 USD from the UK. An A+++ better records of that title is $299. So their pricing is completely aligned with the market. And keep in mind 2500 of my lps are all thrift store finds at 10 cents to $1.99. So, I am not "rich" - I just prefer to buy outstanding copies of my favorites. |
Not only that, which is all true, but Tom told me his prices are actually lower today than years ago. Because the time and effort required to sift through the dreck and find the diamond hasn't changed. But his volume has gone up to where he can afford to run it more efficiently now, and so he has been able to lower his prices. It just doesn't seem that way to anyone looking at it today, but he tells me they were a lot higher 10-15 years ago. Even at these high prices the sought after copies can go fast. I was looking nearly every day for Year of the Cat. When I saw it and got all excited and went to buy, it was already sold! When I let Tom know, that is when I really started learning. There are people all over the place who know Tom will pay top dollar for an excellent copy. I even got to know one guy who claims to have sold a Hot Stamper this way. Well, I bought one from him, supposedly Hot Stamper level, and let me tell you, not even. Good copy, yes. Much better than average. But Hot Stampers are not merely much better than average. The best of them, White Hot, are almost like defy the laws of physics they are so good. Took a good 6 months for him to get enough YOTC for a shoot-out. Then when he told me he was going to do it, I got all excited and started bugging him. Not so fast. It was more than a week by the time he was done and had them sorted and ready to list. These things are not cheap. Even Tom himself jokes about how extravagantly expensive they are. But at least with these, unlike so many expensive reissues, you really do get the sound quality you pay for. |
Expensive reissues? Analogue Productions single LP’s are $35. So are those from MoFi, Speaker’s Corner, Intervention Records, and many more audiophile reissue labels. Try and find a "white hot stamper" copy of Pet Sounds, Smiley Smile, or Wild Honey. You wont, ’cause there aren’t any. The Capitol Records’ issues of those three albums are about the worst sounding LP’s in my collection (which is a cryin’ shame; the music is beyond wonderful.). AP has DRASTICALLY reduced the extreme veiling present in Capitol pressings, as well as restore some semblance of full-range frequency response (the Capitol LP’s sound like a car radio. Seriously.). The AP reissue of those three Beach Boys’ albums (and about a dozen more), $35 each. As for MoFi, no matter how many times it’s said, it just gets ignored (’cause it contradicts the narrative?): Yes, the MoFi LP’s from the Brad Miller/Herb Belkin (MoFi owners/producers.) era (ending in 1999) are mostly not good. Everybody knows that, it’s not news (to those who have been buying LP’s long enough, and paying attention.). Stan Ricker and Jack Hunt were not masters of the art and science of mastering. The LP’s and SACD’s released since Music Direct relaunched the label in 2001 are a very different story. Many really good reissues, major improvements over original-label copies, as well as first-era MoFi LP’s. The Band’s Music From Big Pink was issued twice by MoFi---originally during the first-era, then again in the 20teens. If you are on the hunt for the out-of print MFBP, look for one with catalog number MFSL 1-346 (the second version.). Though the original MoFi is decidedly better than any Capitol Records pressing (the bass was for some reason noticeably missing. Rick Danko was not happy!), the second version is substantially better. If someone has a white stamper and a modern-era MoFi of the same title, let’s hear about the shoot-out! |
Reissues of any price then, if it makes you feel any better. Point is this is where the sound quality is at. Hot Stampers. Not reissues. Don't need no White Hot to trounce MoFi. Don't need Super Hot. Regular old Hot will do the job just fine. White Hot and you will not be comparing, you will be shaking your head in disbelief. |
Want a great-sounding reissue? Trust me on this one. https://www.ebay.com/itm/384198971949?hash=item59740b122d:g:JYIAAOSwDRJgDZ~p |
As I stated way back in the beginning of this thread, you already own hot stampers. Clean your records to remove everything that is in the groove of the record. Next and this is the most important step, demagnetize the record. That is the secret. When you do this it opens up all aspects of the record. That is what Better Records does and they use the Walker Talisman to demag. I have owned a Furutech Demag since 2007, one of the best investment I have made for my vinyl collection. This thing is a game changer. Some years later I purchased a Talisman to compare. The Talisman is nowhere near as powerful as the Demag. While the Talisman did improve the sound, the Demag improved the sound significantly. I also own a tape demagnetizer that I use for my open reel tapes. It does NOT work on vinyl. So don't go out and buy one. I have an original copy of Year of the Cat that I purchased back in 1976. It was an ok sounding record. When I cleaned it using an ultrasonic machine and demag it with the Furutech, there was a huge difference in sound quality. Yes it was hard to believe it was the same record. I have found this to be true for many many records in my collection. I am not stating that all my records have become white hot stampers but I will say this, every record that has been ultrasonically cleaned and demag, has sounded much better. A difference that you can hear. |
Yes clean records sound better. Yes demag works. No the Walker is not permanent. No Tom does not turn records into Hot Stampers by cleaning and waving a Talisman over them. He even says on his site these are things they do just before playing one. This is all just good housekeeping, like having the system thoroughly warmed up. Why is it people who never tried and so don't know insist on acting as if they do? I will let you in on the secret. Tom said it's okay: Get one, listen to it. Then come back and let us know. |
I have purchased a Super Hot Stamper, "Breakfast in America". Paid $199 for it. The record was rated A++ for both sides. I played it and compared it to an original copy that I own and did not hear that much of a difference. I do not think it was worth the money, I do not think that there is anything special about the Super Hot Stamper. I also have a MOFI copy that sound great. The best sounding copy I have of this record is a test pressing that I paid $60 on eBay. It is a big step above the Super Hot Stamper. So when you make statements Why is it people who never tried and so don’t know insist on acting as if they do? I will let you in on the secret. Tom said it’s okay: Get one, listen to it. Then come back and let us know. Well I am coming back to let you know, I do know and I did not find the Super Hot Stamper to be any better in sound quality when compared to the other versions I own. It was not a life changing event when listening to the record that some people have gushed about. I still stand behind my original statement, clean your records and demag them, you will be surprised at the difference in sound quality. Everyone, you do own hot stampers in your record collections, you just don’t know it yet. |