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.
128x128millercarbon
I discovered this thread several days ago and have been reading it slowly throughout the week. Awesome thread and I have thoroughly enjoyed it, even the 3rd grade nitpicking in certain segments. FWIW, I have purchased a couple of albums from Better Records and have been very pleased. In fact I have a copy of Jackson Browne’s “The Pretender” in transit after digging into this topic. So basically reading this thread cost me $300!! It also made me search for the copy of “Year of the Cat” I received as a Christmas present when the album was originally released. I can’t find it! Probably misfiled somewhere.  Anyway, great fun reading all of this. 
I have two questions for @millercarbon:

1. How do you clean your records and what equipment do you use?
2. You’ve mentioned Raven Audio and I am very intrigued by that company.  I have a Prima Luna Dialogue HP Premium integrated that I have really enjoyed. Recognizing that Prima Luna is Chinese made while Raven is U.S. made, what are some of the other differences between comparable models from each company? I would prefer to buy U.S. made but that factor alone is not enough for me to switch. Would love to hear your thoughts and those of others.

Thanks
puppyt:
I have two questions for @millercarbon:

1. How do you clean your records and what equipment do you use?
I use the Walker Enzyme 4step -
1. Normal detergent type wash.
2. Walker Enzyme wash.
3-4. Rinse, rinse.

This was recommended to me by Tom Port. This is what he uses on all his records. Main difference being he uses a very expensive RCM while mine are by hand. I do use a VPI 16.5 but only to suck off the final 2 rinses. The process I use does include a rinse between the washes but it isn’t really a true rinse just tap water so I don’t count that. Also wipe partially dry with a clean towel after each of the first two steps.

Before this I used Disc Doctor. Walker is quite a bit better and if I am honest probably accounts for a fair amount of the difference between a Hot Stamper and any normal audiophiles good clean record. Nowhere near to what some have claimed, that this is all it is, but it is there.

The Walker system is expensive if you buy the full kit. Refills are much cheaper. So I bought the refills, use my own brushes, use my own distilled water, and get virtually all the same results as the kit for a fraction of the price. I am way more frugal than anyone would ever expect of a guy willing to spend $400 on a record. I will spend- but only when I have to, and only when it’s worth it.

2. You’ve mentioned Raven Audio and I am very intrigued by that company. I have a Prima Luna Dialogue HP Premium integrated that I have really enjoyed. Recognizing that Prima Luna is Chinese made while Raven is U.S. made, what are some of the other differences between comparable models from each company? I would prefer to buy U.S. made but that factor alone is not enough for me to switch. Would love to hear your thoughts and those of others.


Without hearing them side by side it is hard to say exactly how they differ. I can tell you though I do not prefer Raven simply because they are made in Texas!

There is a tendency when looking at tube amps to focus on the tubes. Everyone does it. Until you mod a few and then gradually over time determine what really sets them apart is the transformers. The one thing nobody can do anything about and yet it is the beating heart of a tube amp. I don’t know for sure about PL but would bet you a bundle theirs are made in China. The Raven on the other hand are built here in the USA and if you watch the video you can see the look on Dave Thomas’s face when he talks about how this was the one thing he knew they had to do was use those transformers.

So that’s one. Here by the way is the video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gcd76DZmbdY I will summarize a few of the high points.

Next to transformers we have connections. Amps made in China are hand soldered. Hand soldering is a skill. It looks simple but it takes great skill to perform a quality solder connection. There’s a point, if not this video then another, where Dave talks about the different levels of quality and what it costs at each level. The really high quality work is more expensive even in China.

Then there is the solder used. People prefer silver solder because of the sound. But consider what this means- even solder has a sound! Use the same solder everywhere and this sound imparts to the component. So Raven uses silver solder, but different types, not all the same solder throughout the amp.

Same for resistors. They use all the same top brands as everyone including PL. Very good high quality resistors. That each impart their own sonic signature. Dave has found by listening that using the same brand resistor three times in a circuit begins to color the sound. So he mixes them up.

At this point I have to ask, have you ever even heard a manufacturer of anything talk about their obsession with sound quality and going into such detail? I know from talking to Keith Herron and some others that it is done. Not saying Dave Thompson is the only one on planet Earth doing this. Which one of the haters will leap at in an instant. Not saying that at all. Just pointing this out as something I consider highly relevant in deciding what to buy.

We’re talking tube amps here so we have to talk tubes. Dave Thompson has socked away a huge collection of very high quality NOS tubes. He is the tube equivalent of a vintner with the finest wines from all over the world stashed down in his cellar. Listen to the part of the video where he talks about how they thought it would be one tube but listening tests led them to select another. Compare to PL where they treat tubes as totally interchangeable.

That right there is a key difference. I’m no amp designer but I know enough to understand there are tradeoffs in everything. You build an amp to allow plugging in any tube any condition anywhere you pretty much automatically build an amp that is not optimized for any tube any condition any time. Raven does make the Osprey for people who want to try tube rolling - and with Dave’s extensive selection you will not be shooting in the dark but with his sage guidance. The Osprey can be user-modified to run a lot of different tubes, something Dave can help you do over the phone.

What else? Powder coating. Hard to tell on video but those who have seen them in person are impressed.

Maybe one of the biggest reasons I would go with Raven is I know who I’m dealing with: Dave Thompson. No it is not exactly a one man show but basically it is Dave Thompson. Who is PL? Does anyone even know? Are they Belgian? Chinese? Kevin Deal? Face it, PL is a multi-national corporation with so many layers you never will know.

So like I said before, I do an awful lot of research and due diligence before putting my hard earned dollars on the line.

Not asking anyone to switch. I myself have a Melody, same deal, designed in Australia, made in China. Bought 15 years ago, before the narrative was totally discredited. Now fortunately there’s ample reasons of pure sound and build quality to choose Raven. Being made right here in the USA is just the icing on the cake.
@millercarbon

Thank you.  Really appreciate your thoughtful responses. Very informative and very helpful.  I’m not looking to buy a new amp now but I am sold on tubes (I swapped out a Plinius Hiato for the PL in my system) and am always looking for what might be out there. Never thought I would go the tube route but I just really prefer the sound. 
Thanks again,

puppyt
Tubes are better, so if you prefer better sound then it is expected to eventually land on tubes. The same goes for recordings. One of the more common comments on Better-records.com is the "tubey magic" of some recordings. They don't all have it to the same high degree but when they do, wow!
Do they take custom orders at Better Records ? To find hot stamper of a particular record for an agreed price.