The Skeptical Audiophile
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The Skeptical Audiophile is your home to read about Hot Stampers, Demo Discs, Genres, Heavy Vinyl Reviews & Commentaries, Orchestral / Classical Music, Record Collecting for Audiophiles, Record Labels, Record Playing and Setup Advice, Top Artists, and more all in one place.
The Skeptical Audiophile
3h ago
Blue Note Pressings with Hot Stampers Available Now Reviews and Commentaries for Blue Note Records The three copies we had in our recent shootout for Maiden Voyage on the 70s Black B label did poorly. Like a lot of the records we play when they weren’t mastered properly, they were small, smeary and weak. Considering ..read more
The Skeptical Audiophile
3h ago
More Peter Gabriel More Progressive Rock An original UK Charisma pressing with INCREDIBLE Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound or close to it from start to finish This has long been a favorite album of mine, a Desert Island Disc if you will, with some of the most powerfully produced, intelligently written and passionately performed songs in ..read more
The Skeptical Audiophile
6h ago
More Direct to Disc Recordings More Percussion Recordings of Interest Hot Stix appears on the site for only the second time ever, here with solid Double Plus (A++) grades or BETTER throughout this original M&K RealTime direct to disc pressing Side one was sonically very close to our Shootout Winner – you will be amazed at ..read more
The Skeptical Audiophile
9h ago
More Shelly Manne More Contemporary Label Jazz Boasting two solid Double Plus (A++) or BETTER sides, this vintage stereo pressing will be very hard to beat – exceptionally quiet vinyl too Side one has the best condition grade we give out, Mint Minus – there may not be another record on the site with vinyl ..read more
The Skeptical Audiophile
15h ago
Hot Stamper Living Stereo Orchestral Titles Available Now More Reviews and Commentaries for Witches’ Brew Below you will find our review from 2000-something for the Classic Records’ Heavy Vinyl pressing. Clearly I did not care for it. In my mind I had never liked it. However, in moving to Georgia in 2022, I found myself ..read more
The Skeptical Audiophile
1d ago
More of the music of Franz Schubert (1797-1828) More Classical Recordings Featuring the Violin Amazing sound throughout this original London pressing of the Vienna Octet’s performance of Schubert’s sublime chamber work, with both sides earning INCREDIBLE Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades It’s also fairly quiet at Mint Minus Minus, a grade that even our most well-cared-for ..read more
The Skeptical Audiophile
1d ago
Hot Stamper Pressings of Contemporary Jazz Available Now Reviews and Commentaries for the Recordings of Roy DuNann The sound of the OJC pressings of Carl’s Blues that we’ve played recently left a great deal to be desired. They are thinner and brighter than even the worst of the ’70s and ’80s LPs we’ve auditioned. That ..read more
The Skeptical Audiophile
1d ago
More Leroy Vinnegar More Contemporary Label Jazz Boasting two superb Double Plus (A++) sides, this Contemporary recording of Leroy Vinnegar’s debut album pressed on OJC vinyl is doing just about everything right The Contemporary LP stereo sound here is completely natural in every respect – rich, warm and smooth Roy DuNann and Howard Holzer engineered some of ..read more
The Skeptical Audiophile
2d ago
More Neil Young More on Zuma With two solid Double Plus (A++) or BETTER sides, this copy of Neil’s amazingly well recorded 1975 masterpiece (only the second copy to hit the site in eleven months) is guaranteed to floor audiophiles and Neil Young fans alike Side one was sonically very close to our Shootout Winner ..read more
The Skeptical Audiophile
2d ago
More of the music of Bela Bartok (1881-1945) Hot Stamper Classical Imports on Decca & London Available Now Every last one of our pressings were a disaster: smeary, blary and shrill, with no top or bottom to speak of, the very definition of boxy sound. The sound of the London pressings of CS 6086 we ..read more