45RPM reissues: are better 180g or 200g?

Much debate about this, Eziodoc. When Classic Records started pressing 200g LPs, they had quality control problems because the presses used to manufacture the LPs were designed for up to 180g, not 200g. There apparently were issues with fill rates into the stamper and many people reported that the 200g pressings had surface noise. As a result, the 180g pressings have sold from time-to-time for a bit of a premium over the 200g pressings.

FWIW, my copy of the LSC 2449-45 Classic Records 45rpm reissue is the 200g pressing and it sounds superb. I do not have a copy of the 180g pressing of the 45rpm, so I can't compare.

Overall, I've had excellent results with the 200g pressings, and I have not experienced any of the problems reported by others. But I just consider myself fortunate and don't doubt that others have had trouble.

Classic Records certainly believes the 200g records to be superior to the 180g records and theorize that the greater weight improves damping of resonances in the vinyl thereby allowing for a higher resolution playback. There have been reports of demonstrations during which Mike Hobson (Classic Records) played various pressings of the same LP to demonstrate the sonic improvement provided by the 200g iteration. I have no first hand experience with any comparisons, but this is the only way for anyone to develop an opinion of the sonic results. Comparing 180g vs 200g pressing different recordings do not tell us much, and I have some of both.
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Ezio, you're very welcome and thanks for your kind comments.

The Classic Records 45rpm reissue of the Mercury SR90006 "Scythian Suite" is well worth seeking out and acquiring if you can find it. It and the Stravinsky "Firebird" 45rpm are the best of the Classic Records Mercury reissues. The 45rpm Firebird is among the best LPs in my collections - simply amazing.

Another excellent 45rpm classical music reissue is the Speakers Corner 45rpm reissue of the Mendelssohn "Hebrides Overture (Fingal's Cave)," Decca SXL 2246. This record is very demanding of one's system and takes a very well tuned system to sound it's best, which is superb. Too bad Speakers Corner did not continue making 45 rpm reissues.

All of the Classic Records 45rpm RCA reissues are vastly superior to the 33rpm versions. The ones at the top of my list sonically (for this series) include: Rosza's Violin Concerto, The Reiner Sound (containing Ravel's Rapsodie Espagnole), Shostakovich's The Age of Gold Ballet Suite, Vieuxtemps' Violin Concerto, and The Royal Ballet Gala Performances.

For jazz, you can't go wrong with any of the Fantasy 45 series from Analogue Productions or the two Blue Note series from Music Matters and Analogue Productions, all mastered by Steve Hoffmand and Kevin Gray. Choose based on whether you like the music and enjoy this music reproduced as well soncially as we may ever hear these master tapes reproduced. (There is some variability in the quality of the recordings themselves as captured on the master tapes, they are not uniformly superior recordings.)

A couple of "odds and ends" to add to this list of 45rpm recommendations would be: Classic Records 45 rpm reissue of Louis Armstrong's "St James Infirmary" cut from the "Satchmo Plays King Oliver" LP, and Rossinni's Overture to The Italian in Algiers on Fone 016.

Best wishes,