Very best sounding Vinyl

last time i visited Tom Port (Better Records) in his garage was 1999, and bought 10-15 records. not much impressed with his turntable. but i was happy with the pressings i bought. it was before he came up with the ’Hot Stamper’ branding.....and quadrupled his prices.

as far as best sounding vinyl predictably as a group; it’s certainly NOT early 80’s digitally recorded rock’n roll (Dire Straits). agree that they do sound good......but not great. got to go back 5-7 years to mid-70’s analog based masters (Eagles, Steely Dan, Fleetwood Mac) and find an original pressing. i’m not saying digitally sourced pressings are bad, just not top level.

but easily the best sounding records as a large group are the Classic Records late 90’s and early 2000’s single sided 45rpm’s. and then certain Analog Production and Music Matters subscription based 45rpm series pressings. these recordings were the top ’Golden Age’ performances (Classical, Jazz and Rock) and all analog. and the quality of the mastering and production is outstanding. and this was 15-25 years ago and the master tapes were in better shape than now.

i have almost 100% of these 45’s; a whole wall. i could list 200 of them and all would be winners. trying to find original pressings of all these recordings would run you hundreds of thousands of dollars if you could find them. and in many cases (not all) the 45 rpm reissue would sound better. try a few and see what you think. they are findable and predictably excellent.

if you are a Led Zeppelin fan; see if you can listen to the Classic Records 45 rpm single sided box set. these are absolutely astonishing. not cheap; but unless you have the master tape the best you will ever hear LZ.

direct-to-disc can also sound very good; but most are not the best performances. so you many times get great sound and second rate music.

Oh yeah, in terms of vinyl sound quality alone would have to agree. In terms of "to show off your system" though BIA is hard to beat. Between you and me, I would go for the ones you mentioned.

 I don't think anyone here can tell you what the "Very best sounding Vinyl" is.

I agree with Mikelavigne's assessment of a where a good sounding record comes from. 

45 rpm Classic Zepp recordings-I would love to hear LZI-3 and HOH on system like Mikes. I'm a period press guy, but I've heard raves from others. I have a nice 33rpm Classic HOH, but it doesn't hold up to my RL press.

My collection is essentially 1980 and backwards. Really, it's more apersonal preference of music. Anything beyond that on an LP is because it was originally offered as both CD or LP. Those records however, generally sound no better than a good file or CD.

Better Records is for the person who doesn't want to put in the time to bin dive. You're paying for the service of going thru 3+ copies of a great Rock, Jazz or Classical to find the "Goldilocks"  stamper press. Original period press is only a start to finding "the best". SQ will vary with each copy.

If you want to "show off your system" get some of those tired artists I hear at shows or demos. Do a check on Discogs to reference the period press to see what to look for. It's not 100% accurate, but pretty close.

Diana Krall
Jennifer Warnes
Eagles
Miles KOB
Dave Brubeck Time Out
Steely Day AJA or Gaucho
Dire Straits...someone complete the list, I'm getting nauseous.

Ugh...I truly enjoy hearing those artists, but not for "audio geek" listening sessions. 

The "audiophile" dilemma-- buying records that make your system sound good, or because you like the music? Granted, some records are great music and great recordings, but part of that depends on your taste, your pocketbook and where you are in accumulating LPs.
I eventually found the "sonic spectacular" stuff to be a dead-end; musically, just not interesting to me and I'll include within that, lots of soft jazz, classic rock warhorses, etc.
I know Mike likes the Classic 45s. I have two of the 45s- I didn't buy the road case when it came out. On LZ 1, I actually prefer an early Japanese pressing, but that may be subjective and based on system. I find a lot of audiophile reissues emphasize detail and have a somewhat 'tipped up' top end. 
If you are buying for sonic spectacularity, there are endless resources on the audiophile fora. Much of this stuff gets reissued repeatedly because it is a safe bet for sales--
I've fallen into the trap just like others- in some cases over a dozen pressings of a particular album. 
I think it is a journey of exploration for me at this point in my life. I'm interested in more different music. As one example, Cochemea Gastelum's All My Relations on the Daptone label is a mix of Native American chants, electric sax, BIG drum sounds and is a cool listen. It will set you back 20 bucks.  There's all kinds of deep jazz- not necessarily straight ahead, but a little more challenging- that you can find for almost nothing if you are willing to explore-- but that may not be your thing. Classical- the market is dead, except for a handful of high value records and there's a lot of good stuff if you know what you are after. 
Since it sounds like you are just building a collection, I would start with music you like and then research what the best pressings are; the Steve Hoffman forum is good for classic rock. If you are going to buy older records, you'll need to educate yourself. There is consensus on the audiophile favs but most of it is stuff that I don't listen to at this point- not b/c I'm a snob, but because it doesn't do anything for me. In other cases, it goes back to what you are after- AJA, to my ears, is a very dry sounding record; the Cisco, which everyone raved about is even more antiseptic sounding. Some people think this is great. Who am I to say. It's not my cuppa. (the AB press sounds better, standard issue stuff if you like that record). 
I actually managed to avoid listening to Dreaming with Dean or whatever it is called for a year or more, but got caught out one afternoon when invited to hear a very fancy system and the moment the needle came down, I knew what it was. Kinda broke my avoidance streak on that one. 
You'll also wind up playing in collector territory if you go deep enough. They aren't audiophiles. These are blue chip artifacts collected by geeks in band T shirts that are two sizes too small. Who knows if they'll be worth the kind of money they are currently fetching in some cases. I've spent serious money on some records... because I liked the music. Buying records is generally not a good investment, ,but if you are starting out, I understand why you want to be blown away. Just keep in mind that at some point, you may feel like you've been eating at an amusement park and there is far better fare elsewhere if you care to look. Hell, if you ate at 3 star Mich restaurants in France for a couple weeks, you'd get sick of it too. So, while you build your collection, read, listen, research, and surf artists. There's a ton to learn, and that's where a lot of the fun is, for me, anyway. 

Agree with the premise of what Michael said. My Stan Ricker Brothers in Arms is really good, but of course, digital. Doesn't compare to my original presses of other Dire Straits titles, especially my Love Over Gold (Masterdisk) stamper press. Agree with the above about the RL HOTH, which I prefer to the Classic. Houses is my least favorite of the Zep Classics... sure glad I own them though. I have a taste of what Mike's talking about with the 45's...I have the Stairway To Heaven 45, which came with my Classic 200 gram set of Zep I- IV...AMAZING. I have Rumors on RL, but just discovered the Winchester stamped press, and that's unreal...much better than my RL. Just recently realized I had 5 pressings of Joni: Court and Spark, and opened and cleaned a 1st US press with raised design on front cover. Just blew me away. Hejira is also fantastic, even the Rhino. Aja: best I have heard is my Cisco, or my original AB stamper press. Haven't determined which I like better, but would never part with either. Hank Mobley: Soul Station on Music Matters 33 is also one that I think is so good. There's just so much great stuff if you can find it. Test press of Tom Petty's first LP has something very special going on. The following not great sounding, but for me great music, and the best it will likely ever sound. My new (Old) pressing of Black Sabbath: Sabbath Bloody Sabbath on WWA label, a later UK press. The Vertigo may be better, but big bucks. The Sabbath may not belong in this group, but my point is choose the music that stirs your soul, and then find the very best sounding LP of it. I mean, Led Zeppelin sure isn't AUDIOPHILE sound, yet I could never live without my best sounding pressing of Graffiti or Zep III. Sorry, I RAMBLE ON when I'm tired (-: