Even supposedly virgin vinyl is not very high quality these days. I read an article about a new pressing operation in New York City. They acknowledge that even the best vinyl stock they can find is quite inferior in quality to stock available in the heyday of vinyl. What they do is "regrind" the vinyl into a powder before using it to minimize the impact of impurities.
Vinyl reissues quality
I have purchased 10-12 rock/pop/female vocal vinyl reissues lately and the surface noise on about 30% of them is loud enough to be distracting. The surface noise isn't the occassional click and pop but ranges from a constant crackling to constant low roar almost like tape hiss. Cleaning helps some but does not solve the problem. I have LP's from my college days that are 30 years old and are quieter than the brand new 180 gram virgin vinyl reissues. Am I unlucky or are others experiencing the same?