The absolute best sounding vinyl recording I own is the MFSL One-Step version of Yes Fragile. Nothing else I have comes close. It's also one of the nicest in terms of presentation - the box and contents are first class, well worth the asking price.
All of the Dire Straits MFSL 45 RPM releases are fantastic and I love the Cars S/T and Heartbeat City MFSL releases.
A friend gave me a copy of Hall & Oates Abandoned Luncheonette that was a Hot Stamper from Better Records. I was really disappointed. It had a fair amount of surface noise and the sleeve wasn't terrible, but was a bit worn. All I could think was how mad I would have been had I actually spent big money on that record.
Some time later, I decided to give it another listen and compare it to some of the other copies I have, including a MFSL. I was surprised to notice that while it was a little noisy, it certainly did have much better sonics and dynamics than the other pressings I owned.
I can appreciate that the business model requires the purchase of multiple copies of a pressing and time spent listening to them all. Taken in that context, the prices are not really that high. It all comes down to what it's worth to you to have the best listening experience. I bought 10 copies of Fly Like an Eagle trying to find one that sounded great and got close to great with one the MFSL copies I found. It would have been easier and probably not have cost a lot more to just buy one from Better Records.
I still haven't been able to bring myself to actually buy anything from Better Records, but I wouldn't just dismiss what they're doing out of hand.
All of the Dire Straits MFSL 45 RPM releases are fantastic and I love the Cars S/T and Heartbeat City MFSL releases.
A friend gave me a copy of Hall & Oates Abandoned Luncheonette that was a Hot Stamper from Better Records. I was really disappointed. It had a fair amount of surface noise and the sleeve wasn't terrible, but was a bit worn. All I could think was how mad I would have been had I actually spent big money on that record.
Some time later, I decided to give it another listen and compare it to some of the other copies I have, including a MFSL. I was surprised to notice that while it was a little noisy, it certainly did have much better sonics and dynamics than the other pressings I owned.
I can appreciate that the business model requires the purchase of multiple copies of a pressing and time spent listening to them all. Taken in that context, the prices are not really that high. It all comes down to what it's worth to you to have the best listening experience. I bought 10 copies of Fly Like an Eagle trying to find one that sounded great and got close to great with one the MFSL copies I found. It would have been easier and probably not have cost a lot more to just buy one from Better Records.
I still haven't been able to bring myself to actually buy anything from Better Records, but I wouldn't just dismiss what they're doing out of hand.