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The quest for the hot stamper or is it a myth

I have looked at Better Records and their belief is  they have actually found the holy grail of vinyl geeks. The mysterious hot stamper. A record that has no outside evidence what actual number pressing it is. 1000 records can be pressed from a stamper before it degrades the sound. Some manufacturers go up to 1500. I have a DCC Van Halen # 778 on the record jacket and it sounds phenomenal and it should by DCC. Of course if you have Led Zep II and Bob Ludwig is in the dead wax you have a winner. I bought a Marvin Gaye "What's Going On" this year and its sounds really amazingly good. I have the 2 CD extended set and best of on record and SACD. The record not only slays them but cuts it
them up into little bits pieces and feeds it to the wolves. No contest. The sax is smooth and detailed as silk and the intro to "Inner City Blues" just makes me want to hear that over and over again. Ok I assume it was a well engineered album to begin with. Chime in on the engineering. Does anyone else believe in the hot stamper and do you think you have one in your collection???????
128x128blueranger
pryso
1,501 posts
 
blue, you realize of course that "hot stamper" is a marketing label utilized by a dealer.  It is not an industry term.

This is not to say that some pressings won't sound significantly better than others.  Comments made so far support that and I expect anyone with a collection of any size would agree.

My issue is with those who argue for searching out low stamper numbers.  Would you rather have an LP which was the 900th stamped by S-2, or one which was the 4th stamped by S-12?  I'd choose the latter if I could.  But since we don't know the number stamped that becomes a moot point.
blueranger's avatar
blueranger OP
575 posts
 
Ah the old marketing spin. I thought it didn't come from them but from old record manufacturing employees cherry picking low pressings to buy and keeping them. Thanks
mr_m
1,087 posts
 
I think what it boils down to is just how many times will  you play a $500 recording before "buyer's remorse" sets in. As with most any recording it can go high on one's crap list if played 15 times in a row. Just say'in..
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
4,908 posts
 
I paid a visit to Tom Port's apartment/business when we lived two blocks apart in Sherman Oaks, CA in the late-80's/early-90's, and bought a copy of the German pressing of Magical Mystery Tour. Let me just say I was quite surprised by the Hi-Fi system he was using to evaluate the sound quality of LP's, and not in a good way.
wcfeil
464 posts
 
He’s the PT Barnum of vinyl sellers. 
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