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LP Vinyl: Quality, Pressing, Label, Weight, Where to Buy ???

Getting back into LP vinyl...its been a long time = mid 70s?  Searching for an educational review on the forum for buying decent quality vinyl LPs...an overview of quality, weight, pressing, label, and best source/location to purchasing (prefer to stay away from ebay as it seems to be hit/miss on what you get). Does anyone have suggestions for an educational review on the subject? 

As a discussion point...I was looking at buying an older LP (vinyl only); I did an internet search = "Faces" - The First Step Album. Online search produces numerous results with prices from $18 to $120...older, used, remakes/repressed, various quality ratings (is there a uniform rating scale), unopened...list goes on. 

Greatly appreciate the forums experience and insight!

jmrrobbie1

Showing 2 responses by ghdprentice

ghdprentice
7,543 posts
 

@lowrider57 

 

I agree that some audiophile pressings are real stinkers. I started buying them a few decades ago I would get three or four good ones… and the a really bad one. I remember getting Who’s Next… probably my favorite album from my youth… and there was no treble and the bass was flat… no dynamics… simply terrible. If I had read reviews I could probably have avoided.

ghdprentice
7,543 posts
 

I buy new pressings from Music Direct. There are lots of people with strong opinions on which vendor. I probably buy six or eight audiophile pressings a year. I also buy from a local used record store here in Vancouver Washington. I lived in Tucson Arizona and purchased from a huge record store there… if you can look at the album before you buy it you can eliminate any scratched or warped records. A good cleaning machine, I had a VPI for about 25 years, now a German Nessie (way bettera0, and most albums sound pristine with no ticks and pops after cleaning. Of course that requires a great turntable, I now have a high end Linn LP12… my vinyl is a pleasure to listen to… whether a $5 used album from the late 1950’s or a newly pressed 200 gram audiophile album.

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