Do 45 rpm 12" LPs really sound better than 33 rpm?

Your “tests” prove nothing that anyone else can use for guidance.

45's sound better than 33's except when the 45 has mud on it. 45's sound better than 33's except when the listener get reverse 'audioitis'; that's when he can't tell his left ear from his right ear, and good sounds bad.

Anytime I see my favorite music offered at 45 RPM, I am going to buy it.

Dear friends, thank you all so much for the response, and special thanks to anthonymaw, 6t5-gto, chakster, edgewear, shadorne, mikelavigne.... In general, as I got it, with a small margin, the opinion wins that, ceteris paribus, 45 rpm is better. Although, of course, there are a lot of factors ... As for me, the last straw before putting my question on the table was the purchase of Ed Sheran’s Divide - 45 rpm Double LP. The piquancy of the situation was that I wanted to show my 19-year-old son (of course, nihilist with an iPhone headphones), how one of his favourite artists can sound like. The expected triumph was blurred ... I do not think that there is any reason to blame my set up for not being able to reveal all the charms of 45 rpm... Just in case, this is Michel GyroDec, SME 309, Benz Micro SL, Benz Micro phono preamp, Audio Research Gsi 75 and Sonus Faber Serafino. By the way, as a sign of gratitude to all who answered my question, I promise to buy some more 45 rpm 12’’ LPs - with the same content that I already have at 33 rpm - and make a detailed report here. True, I’ll have to wait: I have just ordered these records in the USA, but I live in Russia, in Moscow - and delivery can take several weeks.
Along the way, another question, but to those who have a real experience listening to a Benz Micro SL cartridge (or its heir, Benz Micro Z ). In my country house I have a simpler set (Thorens 350 with Thorens tonearm 92) - and now I choose a cartridge for it that sounds no worse than Benz Micro, but maybe a little sharper (this house allows to listen loudly, sometimes). Can you advise something within $ 3.5 k? Once again, thanks everyone!

I used to produce dance music, and I can tell you that it makes a huge difference in club/DJ music, especially if the final mixdown was to 1/2" 30ips. Not even close, using the same high quality Studer gear (before everything went digital). Thrilling low end, much better headroom. The bottleneck then became mastering, which is so easy to mess up.

It's entirely possible that something in your system, choice of musical genres, or system (or all the above) could make these discs less or more appealing, but personally I cherish my old 45 12s.

There is a Dusty Springfield 12 33/45 you can get. I have it. The Look of Love. One side 33 and the other side 45. I like the 45 side better. 180 gram