The Color Of Vinyl

I can say that I have seen impurities inside clear vinyl records, and doubt the better quality theory. I have never owned the same record in two different colors, so I won't try to offer any observations about alsolute sound quality. Since a choice usually isn't available for any given record outside of collector's limited issues, which are presumably bought for reasons other than their sound, this probably won't matter much in the real world anyway. Two thing I can say though: it's only with black records that you can really *see* the surface conditions and whether or not you've cleaned the thing well, and the same goes for your ability to accurately cue the lead-in and between-track silent grooves (clear and translucent records being the worst for this). Given a choice, give me black.

Interesting to see what develops...

I have seen a few records over the years that were pressed on a vinyl that appeared just like regular opaque black records when viewed normally, but were revealed as actually being translucent dark purple when held up to a light source - you could see light and shadow through them, but if you had never done this light test, you'd have never suspected any difference. The best of both worlds? I was once told that this vinyl type (whatever it was called) is no longer produced. Any further info?...