Anyone tried a Tom Port/ Better Records ‘Hot Stamper’

Customers of Tom Port/Better Records are spending their dollars for the judgement that Tom and his panel make in determining the sound quality of different copies of a particular record. One question I have always had about the comparisons (besides the variations caused by the condition of the different records - all purchased used, I believe) is that the important variable is the stamper (hence the name "hot stamper"). The basic way a typical record is made (not a direct to disc or "one-step") is production master tape - lacquer - father - mother - stamper - record. On the way several mothers are typically made from a father, and several to many stampers are made from each mother. Normally each stamper is labelled in the dead wax with the number or letter of the stamper and often the number of the mother. So a popular record could be from the 20th stamper made from the 2nd mother. Buying several copies of the same used record which sold well will typically get you several different stamper numbers from the same or different mothers. Port's thesis (I believe) is that different stampers have different sonic characteristics, and he is finding some of the best sounding stampers for a particular album title, selling them for a large premium for his work and ability to hear.

One major element in the process I believe is missing. That is the wear of the stamper over time as it is used to press usually a few thousand records, before it is retired and replaced by another stamper. If you get a record pressed early in the production run of a stamper, it should be better than a record pressed late in the production run, when the stamper is more worn (after all, that is why a stamper is replaced). A record has a stamper number/letter, but it has no indication whether the record came early or late in the production run. Some audiophile records are numbered on a sticker on the jacket of the album, but this only gives the number of the sticker, not of the record itself.

Obviously, since Tom Port relies on the sound quality of a particular record he is selling, the judgement includes all variables that contribute to the sound quality, particularly between samples of the same record, whether they are from the same stamper or not. Since the sample size of the number of records that Tom can obtain is only a small fraction of the total number of records pressed of that title, whether he has within the sample one of the best sounding records seems problematic. What it appears to me is that if you buy records from Tom Port, and you find that they sound better than purchasing the same title from a used record store or a new reissue from Chad or other sources, then if you are happy with your purchases that should be sufficient. That Tom accepts returns, albeit, perhaps not with the grace of Costco, makes a purchase much less risky. However, if you find the exact same stamper on a record you find in the dollar bin of your favorite used record shop, doesn't mean it will sound the same (maybe better, maybe worse) than one purchased from Tom.

Larry