I have found that the physical quality of new vinyl, across the board, is hit and miss. About 1 in 7 pressings, even on on 180 grams, will begin to pop and crackle after just a few plays. I have a quality cartridge, but it makes no difference. Why does this problem occur when back in the day, vinyl was pretty much 100% reliable? I have read on Audiogon and other sites that some of today’s vinyl may be recycled from older records. Hope that is just a rumor, but something is causing these defective copies. . . .
