Excellent sounding LPs

“Since records (and CDs to a much lesser extent) vary so widely in SQ I can’t see how anyone with a very large collection can honestly say the vast percentage sound excellent.”

@rvpiano 

This is where it really pays to ask yourself — are you an impulsive buyer or do you take time to consider the two most important factors of any album: provenance and mastering? In my experience, carefully weighing those two before purchasing makes all the difference between an average recording and one that truly shines.

A lot of London/Decca classical recordings are quite good.  

Vinyl resurgence, nostalgia, rose tinted glasses. Do people really think the recording companies gave a  damn about sound quality back in the day! They churned out the vinyl from a single stamper way past it's past due date, didn't care about what masters copies came from. And this not only with rock releases, I have plenty of rather pedestrian sounding  classical, jazz, pop vinyl to prove it. 

Some claim vinyl era was golden age of audio recordings, I totally disagree. While the masses played vinyl at home, they didn't care about sound quality and the record companies provided the requisite product. While sound quality still not an issue for the masses, just in sheer numbers audiophiles much larger cohort than in so called 'golden age', therefore, we now have many more providers offering high quality sound, where there's a market some will come to serve. 

The ironic thing is these vintage recordings often offer much better sound quality than previously thought now that we have providers seeking out and offering us recordings made from original or high quality masters. Whether that is provided digitally or analog is of no consequence anymore for me and many others. The issue is  all this made much of my vintage vinyl obsolete.

Yup, the SQ of the vintage vinyl is all over the place, ie. 60’s & 70’s.  This is why you have those websites where afficionados have done all the research to identify the best pressings.   As digital came into the mix, Vinyl and CDs started sounding the same.  So, for me, past the 80’s, I rely on digital (CD, SACD, .wav files, .dsf files, and Streaming) for my music. 

So, in my opinion, if you are looking for Vintage Vinyl, quality is better than quantity.  Research the best pressing and get "EX+" or "Mint", and you will always have the urge to play that album, and it will sound better than the CD. 
 

@sns 

To build on my earlier point, what matters most is the provenance and mastering of a particular recording. Beyond that, the format — vinyl, CD, or streaming files is simply the means to enjoy the music.