"magic" stampers?

what you noticed is well documented... another argument in favor of using your own ears. it's not about earlier or later pressings, as you say, and one side of the lp being a 'magic' is no guarantee the other is! it's part of the fun of the 'hunt' for lps - some cheapies are excellent.

years of storage in various enviroments will have an effect on any record....even 2 that appear to be from the same era, and even the same plant(even sealed)....there is no magic however....just the luck of the draw....if you ask 10 people if a given lp is a so-called hot or magic stamper, you will get 10 opinions.......my father used to think that the time and day an automobile left the plant fully assembled made a difference in the autos longevity.....hot stampers are the equivalent of an auto 'survivor'. one that got to this point without visual or audible signs of age.

There definitely is a difference in stampers, but you can't necessarily make any generalities about what is best, e.g., earlier stampers are better or pressings from a particular plant or country are better. There are "trends" for sure, but alas, no sure fire methods. I think the timing of this thread is interesting, just this morning I saw an e-mail from "that" dealer and he has a "White Hot Stamper" of Neil Young's After the Gold Rush for $599.99!!!!!!!!! Somebody probably bought this record for $5.99 years ago and now look how much it is worth! This is crazy, but if someone buys it who am I to question it? I just know I won't be the one buying it.

I chose to stop receiving his emails. He has a tendancy to pontificate.

Snake oil salesmen don't follow the creed good product at a fair profit = good business.

It sort of makes it even all the more fun finding buried treasure Quite a bit of my collection did not just come from first pressings, they were obtained on the first day of release direct from the manufacturer.

I remember getting Goat's Head Soup and paying wholesale for the whole box of 25 (that was $1.85 Each) and going from house to house like Johnny Appleseed. Turning on my friends the first day it came out, listening to a side in each house, before leaving and going to another house minus one record plus one happy stones fan. When ever there was an extra ticket for a show who do you think they called?

When I got my new cartridge earlier this month I just popped open a copy that I still had left from those days. One of 2 still sealed, posters, original heavy vinyl, sleeve and all. It sounds great, my rig now is better then what we all had back then, but somehow upstairs in the 8X10 attic room at Murry's through all the blue haze it sounded even better.

Those posters went up in my sons room just like they were made for him.

Merry Christmas
Groovey Records

listening to
Time Waits for No One -Jagger & Richards-It's Only Rock & Roll
Rolling Stones Records COC 79101