Ok just looked up better-records.com. Thanks to maestro MC.
Could not agree with them more; too many variables with vinyl and the only way to tell if a recording is superior is to play it. But, ouch those prices; although it does make sense if you account for the many hours they must spend finding and selecting recordings.
Not only the prices, but also the only reason for buying one is sound quality. They are not dead quiet. They are all used. Sometimes they are quite noisy. But, the sound! This is where we separate the men from the boys. The wanna-bees will listen and say there is hardly any difference. This tells me far more about their system and/or their listening ability than anything. Because I have more than a dozen of these now and every single one is head and shoulders better than anything else I have, vintage or reissue or otherwise. Only rare exceptions like Patricia Barber 1Step, while it is dead quiet and an amazing recording still it is not quite the pressing level of a White Hot Stamper.
This is where it is so important to be able to understand and keep separate all the different aspects and areas that contribute to, or detract from, a great pressing. There is the recording, as in what is on the master tape. Then there is the mastering, which can be done different ways from the same original master tape. Then there is the pressing run, which is all the records produced from any given stamper. (And even this is sidestepping some steps- many stampers can be made.) Finally there is the pressing, the individual LP you hold in your hand. Each and every one of these is unique and individual. This is why if you understand all this it almost makes no sense even to ask questions like is the 45, or the half-speed mastered, or whatever worth it. You will learn the answer one way only, and that is to be listening when the needle drops.
