New Tom Port - Hot Stamper Article In Wired

My dad is like this, sort of. In my dad's mind, if he owns it, it's the best.

This makes "the best" a moving target with Dad - whatever he has must be "the best"!

"I drive a 1986 Yugo - it's the best car there is! You'd be an idiot to drive any other car!"

 

Everything you say makes perfect logical sense, but data doesn't lie. How many re-issues are better than the originals? In my experience, where I do have good sounding originals, very few cases. Currently, there are a lot of re-issues of 70s and 80s rock that I bought as it came out, these re-issues are a waste of time/money for me, and clearly illustrates the "general" inferiority of re-issues.

Re-issues do have there place for cases where you either don't have original copies, or getting them is cost prohibitive.

 

It is hard to imagine though someone going to him who can't hear the difference between pressings.

 

Agreed

 

This is exactly my impression about him as well. I loved his rants and posts here years back, though I learned to take it all with one hefty grain of salt.

I also ordered a few times from Better Records in the late 90s. He chewed me out in a note because I forgot to hit his mandatory minimum order amount. Scraping any cash together for records back then was really hard for me, so I decided I didn't need his attitude and went elsewhere. He caters to bored investment bankers rather than music fans, so I'm ok with not being welcome to his hot stamper party!

But still, I rather miss his writing and rants! He's a character for sure.

Dan c

 

Your authority on the matter has convinced me.

Q.E.D.

 

I wonder what magical 30W '70s solid state amp he uses? I noticed that's is conspicuously not shown in that photo of the listening room.

I wouldn't be surprised if it's something like this:

 

Lol Toms one of those dudes that when he starts trying to alpha male you just have to say " Oh go F yourself Tom, its vinyl for cripes sake". He likes a good scrap. Then he will give you one of those fake car salesmen phone hugs and your buddies again.

 

Where did you expect them to come from????? He never claimed that he has access to "magical" or "special" pressings. All of his records "can" be found in your local record store. HOWEVER, do you know the matrix numbers of the better sounding ones? And, are you willing to listen to 20 or more copies to find the best one. As many people have stated, there are differences between pressings. Like I've said in the past, listen and see if his wares beat what you have in your collection. If not, sent the record back. Simple as that. The prices are outrageous. No doubt about it. I have never bought one of the hot stampers. But he did do me right years back when I wanted to buy a 180 gram reissue of Stevie Ray Vaughn's "Couldn't Stand the Weather." He told me to save my money and that he instead would sell me a regular run of the mill Epic pressing for $10 that would beat the pants off of the audiophile pressing. $10! When I got the record, it became one of my demonstration go to records it was so good. It was only beaten by the new AP 45 rpm vinyl from the box set. But he did me right for $10. Same thing with Nirvana "Nevermind." He sold me an EU import copy for about $20 that I still have today and is an absolute sonic delight. So, yes, he realized that there are people out there willing to pay big bucks (the same ones willing to pay $75,000 for an amp) and he created a good business. Scream at his prices if you will but his records really do surpass most regular copies.

 

Well, record collectors want originals, not repressings, and that appears to be his market. Record collectors with a passion for sound. Or investors.

 

If you think this article is fun, read the comments section. Wousers.

 

Michael Fremer is on a tear in those comments!

 

Fremer has gotten involved in the comment section there.

 

Any time somebody begins speaking in absolutes, you should take a step back and figure out what they're selling.

 

Absolutely correct.

 

If by involved, you mean "bitten by a rabid dog crazy".

 

I think that if someone feels the need (and has the money) to pay someone dearly to audition all their potential vinyl purchases, more power to them. If Tom wants to provide this service and people will pay his going rates, more power to him. I just think that those individuals are missing out on some of the things that make music collecting enjoyable (stumbling across deals, comparing pressings, etc.)

 

No disagreement from me????

 

Great choice if it is.

 

You would be surprised what kind of systems you could build from what you are describing. I have been doing that for years. As I said in a earlier post, I have a pretty decent system and very little money invested in it. Just takes a little tinkering sometimes to tweak junk into a good sounding system.

 

According to his site, he doesn't think too highly of original Beatles UK Parlophone pressings. Especially the mono issues. He claims they don't sound good played on modern Hi Fi systems. I guess buying up all of those Beatles Blue Box Sets keeps him busy!

 

Agree however most of these folks probably don't really have the time. These guys for the most part work very long hours.

 

Who doesn't?

 

The only way they'd be a good investment would be the buyer were able to convince someone else that they were selling them a "hot stamper" and sell it for more than Port was paid. Good luck with that.

 

My guess is many around here don't.