Well, I did it! I just bought by first “White Hot Stamper” from Better Records. I decided to try out their upgrade program and upgrade one of my “Hot Stamper” ‘s, an A+/A+ copy of Roxy Music’s debut. The clock was ticking on their one year limit and I went for it, and not without a ton of waffling and hand wringing I might add. So was it worth it? The GIANT price tag? The answers is a unqualified “YES!!!” in more ways than one.

First of all, the record sounds phenomenal. The fist side, rated an A+++, is MIND BLOWING! And when I finished listening to the second side, which is rated a meager A++ to A+++, just shy of their full fledged “White Hot” rating, I had my new demo disc. The sound is HUGE! The soundstage is ENORMOUS! The resolution is OFF THE CHARTS! The keyboards and guitars on this record can be a bit edgy and if the resolution isn’t strong this record it can be a rough ride. But this copy fully expresses those instruments, along with Ferry’s vocals which often live in a challenging place on the frequency spectrum. On this copy they’re as full bodied and smooth as I’ve every heard them.

Listening to this copy I found I could find no fault with anything coming out of speakers. Instead, everything I heard was worthy of high praise. As an audiophile, the experience of listening to this record was moment after moment of the moments we audiophiles live for – the experience of everything coming off the record sounding so right that for the time it takes to play one side we can sit back, relax, and just enjoy the record as the time, energy, frustration and MONEY we put into our system becomes a non-issue.

Let me say this hear and now- if you have a system that you feel is well built and capable and you have not had this experience with a record, consider investing in a great copy of a title you love. You won’t regret it.

Second, this copy of Roxy Music’s debut showed me what my system was capable of, and it turns out my system is capable of a lot! This is so important because I’ve personally waisted A TON of energy with this hobby on doubting. I’ve doubted my choices of gear, doubted the strength of my set up, doubted how well my stylus is holding up or whether my tubes are still delivering good sound. This record showed me very clearly that regardless of whether my system was operating at its absolute peak, it was still operating at a VERY high level.

Third, this record has raised my confidence in my ear for critical listening to a new high. Above all other doubts I’ve had since taking up this hobby, I’ve often doubted my ear. I’ve doubted whether I’m capable of knowing what a great sounding record on a great sounding system would sound like when I heard it. What a relief to have that doubt behind me forever!

Fourth, with my system passing test after test with flying colors, I decided to put another record to the test and took out my copy of Blood, Sweat and Tears’ self titled album. I’ve used this record periodically over the years as kind of sonic “pep talk” in moments of audiophile self doubt. This record so far has always managed to assuage any fears that my system had suddenly started sounding like garbage. I’ve had other such “demo discs” over the years, some of which have proved to be a disappointment when a system upgrade demanded more of it. I placed B, S & T‘s on the turntable wondering if my copy would deliver.

Days earlier I had revisited one of Tom Port’s blog posts on Blood, Sweat & Tears in which he outlined “The 30 Second Spinning Wheel Test.” His praise for the sonic potential for this record is incredibly high, and I was prepared to be at least a little disappointed with my copy.

Not only did my copy pass Tom’s “Spinning Wheel” test, it ABSOLUTELY CRUSHED IT! And as I continued to play side 2 I began to realize that no sooner had I acquired my new demo disk in Roxy Music that my copy of Blood, Sweat & Tears had bested it. I was ASTONISHED! FLOORED! FLABBERGASTED!!!

I like to think that as a person I’m about as far away from Donald Trump as any white, male person could be, but Donald and I do have one thing in common. When we’re charged up about something we get out there an TELL THE WORLD! Of course in his case it’s Twitter and it’s literally “THE WORLD” while in my case its “The Broken Record” and all 10 of my readers on a good day.

No matter, I am GENUINELY EXCITED about this subject and eager to gush praise and good feeling if for no other reason than to share such feeling with others. In Donald’s case he only tweets to tear something or someone down, and even when he’s spilling praise it’s purposed for setting up stark contrasts with the views of others that, by association, denigrate them.

But that’s a subject for another time. This is a blog about records. So let’s get back to records and to the main point of this post which is this – it is important, no, ESSENTIAL!, for any audiophile record collector to find the demo disk in his/her collection because a demo disk takes every one of the most thrilling elements of this hobby to the next level.

Even if he were to acquire the finest audio system money could buy, Donald Trump could never be an audiophile. The experiences that an audiophile seeks and that therefore make him/her an audiophile are emotional ones, and these are the sort of experiences that are more foreign to Donald Trump than Kim Jong-un.

So start playing some records and find the one that crystalizes everything this audiophile hobby is about into those moments of pure, unadulterated, un-Trumpian, ultra-thrilling, joyful sonic ecstasy. And if you can’t find one in your collection, BUY ONE! You won’t ever regret it.