What do you do when you get a bad vinyl record pressing?


I'm not talking about just buying any record off the shelf, taking it home and discovering it sounds like turds. I mean when after you've done as much research as you could to find out what particular pressing is the best sounding of that album and purchased it online or found it in the wild. 

I had my latest disappointment with The Cult. I remember the album, which I had on CD, from my college days and recalled there were some pretty cool songs on the album. In fact I recall liking the whole album. I wondered how it would sound on my rig now? So I did the research and got a NM Canadian pressing. This is the honest truth - the whole record sounds terrible with no bass except for She Sells Sanctuary! It's crazy how the mastering of every song on an album may not be from the same recording. Many times it seems there is one song or a couple that seems to just sound better than the other songs on the album. 

I was really bummed out. That album could have been such a killer album. Bernie Grundman or Steven Wilson should remix it. So what do I do when this happens and I love the album?

I play it on another rig. A less critically serious rig. Most times these albums spring to life and are great. Is it the coloration of the vintage gear? Who knows but sometimes ignorance is bliss!

vuch

@tablejockey, your inclination also occurred to me as well. Other records do sound great but there's no harm in checking tonearm/cartridge set up again. I'll do that when I get back to the main rig. Right now I'm just in heaven with the vintage rig! Listening to Love again as I type this. The latest thing I've done this morning is adding the Bellari phono stage in the chain to compare to the HK internal phono stage. 

If I run into a bad vinyl I always ultrasonically clean it twice then retry it.

Sometimes it has revived the record, if not I trash it.   

It happens for sure. With CD's as well. And, sometimes your VERY pleasantly surprised with some thin vinyl reissue of something that sounds great. Most of us that collect records I think read the forums on "best sounding pressings". But sometimes you just don't know what is what! Example, I was reading up on the Beatles German pressings after acquiring the sought after "magical mystery tour stereo" (lives up the hype), and folks were warning to stay away from the German Blue Odeon pressings. HOWEVER, I have a German Blue Odeon stereo pressing of Rubber Soul which is staggeringly good. Such is the hobby I suppose. Happy hunting!