New vinyl quality....


Recently I have purchased quite a bit of new vinyl. I am shocked at the poor quality control and inconsistency that I am getting. Anyone else?
Chris Stapleton Traveller 2LP: LP1 is flawless. LP2 is so beyond warped and is not even close to round!! Oh, and this is after I returned the 1st copy as there was an audible flaw through most of the first 2 songs of disc 2, side 1. Wish I had that copy back! 
Stones' new release, Honk: LP1 is so bad the center is damaged and won't even fit over the spindle! Additionally, there are visual marks all over it - looks like smudges. LP2 is fine.
I am seeing this a lot. Probably 30-40% of the new (sealed) vinyl I'm buying has some kind of an issue. Not even talking about SQ here - it's physical issues that I am seeing. 
What are you all experiencing? 
denjer1
Great post bdp24. Now I know what to look for in the shrink-wrap and MUST HAVE THE STICKER! 

Speaking of, tonight opened up a newly received Sly & The Family Stone, There's a Riot Going On. A 2007 reissue by Sundazed Music/Sony BMG. It is INCREDIBLE!! Side 1 is one of the most enjoyable sides of music I have ever heard. Blown away. This is why we can't leave this hobby well enough alone....

Back to the music now: Side 2.....

@denjer1, Sundazed is a great label, I have a bunch of their albums (on both LP and CD). So is their counterpart in the UK, Ace Records. Their Everly Brothers albums are fantastic, and the sound is audiophile quality.

Let me correct one misimpression I may have created in my above post: While a "paper sticker" (containing any announcement to consumers from the record company) glued onto the outside of shrink wrap is definite proof of that LP being factory sealed, the LACK of any such sticker tells one nothing. Many, in fact most, LP’s leave the factory with no such sticker.

A little off topic, if you want to experience how good vinyl can sound, have a listen to a MFSL Ultradisc. These disc are about as good as it gets IMHO, albeit expensive at $125 now. I am lucky to own all 7 limited edition titles (all sold out now), every time I play one I think I am listening to a master tape. They are that good! Last night I listened to Bill Evans - Sunday Night At The Village Vanguard; a 60 year old recording that made me think I was listening to live jazz. Hard to imagine the vinyl playback experience getting any better.
To millercarbon - possibly a third way is to use a vinyl demagnetizer. I recently bought the Furutech demag alpha. Every record I play gets the treatment. If I could describe the effect it would be "more relaxed" sounding after treatment. But there is also more detail and less distortion. I also use the Furutech SK-Filter for static. It’s also extremely good. It removes glare and harshness while the disc spins. You can hear the effect immediately after you swing the SK-Filter arm over the record.
Right. And I have no idea why this works, but I've been using the Radio Shack Bulk Tape Eraser (a great big demagnetizer) on my records just before playing and it does make for a more detailed yet smoother more grain-free sound. Not huge but definitely noticeable. Does not last. Need to do it every time. Which makes me think its static not truly magnetic. Whatever. How something works matters a lot less to me than does it work. 

The Furutech gizmo looks like carbon fiber bristles hang down very near to but not touching the record. Carbon fiber is conductive. Is it grounded? I don't see any ground wire. Is the base purely for mass to balance the thing, or is there a battery or something inside? Looks pretty easy to DIY.