Heaver grade vinyl vs Standard


I am new to vinyl and I am in process of buying a scout. I was wondering was peoples thoughts were about reissued 180-200 gram vinyl. Ive read that it depends on the a number of things (pressing, recording, turntable) but in general who thinks its worth it to spend 20-30 dollars more?
macd

Showing 1 response by larryi

Two issues being slightly confused here -- heavy vinyl vs. regular weight and reissue vs. original issue.

On heavy vs. regular, I am solidly in the regular weight category. Heavy vinyl just screws up my VTA which is set for the vast majority of my collection (regular thickness). Many of these heavy weight albums come pre-warped (dish warp), the product of an incomplete pressing cycle (thick records need to be pressed much longer and cooled slowly). I have a few that also have crackly distortion, primarily in one channel, that is the product of an incomplete pressing cycle (the vinyl did not fully form around the stamper).

As for reissue vs. original. I generally find the originals to be better, but, that may be the product of deteriorating master tapes rather than the manufacturing process. As far as the manufacturing of new records go, it varies by source. A lot of Japanese records (thick or thin) are done on really good vinyl that is free of ticks and pops and remains so. Same with some German records (e.g., Speakers Corner reissues). The vinyl used on some premium U.S. labels, like Classic Records, is total crap. Not only is it noisy, it gets progressively worse with playing. I hope the Music Matters Bluenote releases don't suffer the same fate (also pressed at RTI).