What exactly are Hot Stampers?
Hot Stampers are pressings with sound far beyond that of the typical LP. Discovering these extraordinary records and making them available to the audiophile public is currently the main focus of our efforts here at Better Records.
The term "Hot Stampers" derives from the metal parts, called stampers, which press down and flatten the vinyl "puck" which is placed in a record press, thereby producing a record. We also use the term "hot stamper" to refer to our favorite stamper numbers (also known as "matrix numbers") for albums we know well. These are simply the numbers you see etched into the dead wax of records, accompanied on occasion by the initials of the cutting engineer, or the name of the cutting house that mastered the record.
The stamper numbers tell a part of the story, but it's only a part. There is a great deal more to the sound of a record than its stamper number. The term Hot Stamper is simply shorthand for a host of factors that all come together in order to produce a high quality LP.
Record mastering is best seen as an art, not a science. One engineer's cutting will almost always sound substantially different from another's, due to differences in their mastering chains, the quality of the tapes available to them, as well as the artistic judgement of both men. There are also a number of things that can affect the sound of the finished product after the acetate is cut. There's no need to go into all of them here -- and truth be told no one really knows what they all are. Suffice to say that when a record sounds good, lots and lots of things had to have gone very right.
The upshot of all this is that no two records actually ever sound alike. On a highly-resolving modern stereo records that look identical in every way are simply not going to sound the same. If you're listening critically and know the material well, two records with exactly the same stamper numbers will be noticeably different sounding, sometimes dramatically so.
Stamper numbers are a guide, they provide important clues to the sound of an LP, but their utility is quite limited. The only meaningful way to know how any given record is going to sound is to clean it up and play it, preferably head to head against other pressings, and always on the highest quality system you have available to you. It sounds simple, and in many ways it is. Clean 'em, play 'em, and listen to them carefully. It pretty much sums up what we do around here all day.
Other record dealers may choose to ignore all this -- virtually none acknowledge the validity of the concept -- but we've embraced the idea and created a niche for ourselves, cataloguing and clarifying the remarkably wide variation in vinyl pressings that we encounter. The idea might be surprising to many, but there's no denying how different seemingly identical copies of the same record can sound when you actually sit down and listen to them. Some audiophiles are aware of this fact and prefer to do their own limited shootouts. We've taken it to another level, devoting the kinds of resources that no single audiophile can hope to match. Let's face it, most people have jobs. Playing records all day is our job.
That kind of scale is key to the success of our approach. We find, clean, and play dozens, sometimes scores, of pressings, usually of albums we know are well-recorded. Since we've been doing this for a very long time, decades in fact, we have a sizable head start in terms of knowing which recordings, which pressings and which stamper numbers have the potential -- and it can never be anything more than that, a potential -- to achieve Sonic Greatness. Those that do we call Hot Stampers. It's as simple as that.
You may enjoy reading our Testimonials section. It's full of letters from customers who were thrilled and even a bit shocked at how much better our Hot Stamper LP sounded compared to the one (or more) they owned (especially if they had an audiophile pressing).
We discuss our approach to cleaning and playing records, along with lots of other subjects that touch on playback issues, in an ongoing commentary called Revolutionary Changes in Audio.
Note that we guarantee every Hot Stamper 100% -- if you buy one that doesn't sound amazing to you, return it and we'll refund your purchase price. We can make this offer as our rate of return on Hot Stamper pressings is currently running less than 2% of sales. And, more importantly, we want you to be happy with any record you buy from us that we've recommended to you. We stake our reputation on every Hot Stamper we sell. If you're not happy, we're not happy. You're going to get your money back, no ifs, ands or buts about it.
About This Page
We've compiled most of what we consider to be our best commentaries about Hot Stampers below. Those visiting the site for the first time are encouraged to read these three for starters: The Book of Hot Stampers, Our Manifesto, and The Science of Hot Stamper Shootouts. Every shootout affords us the opportunity to discuss the important discoveries we make on a regular basis concerning these wonderful analog LPs -- the technology that refuses to die! -- from mastering to playback and everything in-between. For a ringside seat we highly recommend you get on our mailing list.
Be sure to visit the Hot Stamper section to see the pressings currently in stock. Every Hot Stamper listing has plenty of commentary about its sound; even if you aren't in the market to buy, you might find they make for interesting reading.
|
