Audiophile LP's


That title sounds pretty general but I didn't know how else to name it to attract some attention. For several decades in the production of vinyl the sound quality has widely varied due to recording process, pressing, and other factors. I remember years ago that some commonly available LP's were also available in a much higher quality (and a higher price) than the standard LP and offered superior sound quality. Can't remember all the terms to describe these records but direct-to-disk, master recording, and probably a few others I can't recall. Back then I never purchased any of those since when the needle dropped and music was there what else mattered? To buy a record at 2 or 3 times the standard price didn't make sense to anyone I knew at the time.
My question....I know that numerous sellers on the web list LP's for sell as "mastered", "audiophile", and the like. Back in the day were current sellers offering these truly superior records just trying a ripoff? If not, are most of the ones still in existence only are owned by private collectors?


jrpnde
Agree with Sheffield D to D records I have several. Another among my best SQ records are the American Grammaphone LP's.  Many are pressed on JVC transllucent vinyl. The Fresh Aire series first pressings are just marvelous. When I sold records in the 80's and 90's we purchased our records from the master distributor for American Grammaphone. 
Anyone tried Linn Records or CD's, for that matter, I think they work/sound very well??? How about GRP???
Post removed 
Just checked my "Audiophile" section, most of which I bought in the '70s and '80s. Labels:
- Pierre Verany -- some absolutely terrific albums with extremely realistic sound. Not really an audiophile label, but terrific sound revered in audiophile circles back in the day.
Proprius - Some of my favorites for sound and music, including Cantate Domino (now a Christmas standard in our family) and Jazz at the Pawnshop (as real a live jazz performance album as I've heard).
M&K Realtime - For Duke has been a go-to demo disc for me for many years -- the horns are right there in your room.
Opus 3 - A series of what they called "test records" for various sonic attributes like timbre and ambience. Terrific, natural sound, sometimes interesting material.
Ambience Recordings - Nice sound, so-so material.
East Wind - ditto
- Direct-Disk -- several albums with excellent sound, not so crazy about the music.