Most Paid for Vinyl LP

Like Slaw, I had to try a UHQ cut of a Steelie Dan album.  $150.00.

Yes, it sounds a bit better, beautiful presentation, might become a collection item, but hard to justify additional purchases...

Man, I’ve spent money on records. I got a mint LZII RL both sides narrow dead wax side 2 - I gave my friend 300 for it a number of years ago.  I have two other copies that aren’t as clean. 

A lot of the private label jazz cost me more than that. Some has been reissued, but not all reissues compare to the OGs.

Some of the more rarified Vertigo Swirls cost even more. Cressida, both albums. A few others. I think I have close to 45 or 50 OGs, mainly UK. 

Some records I bought when they were cheap--

I figure that it all evens out at a certain point. I got an Italian Mercury DDLind- paid 27 dollars for it, unplayed, still in questionable shrink. That record was selling for 2 grand at one point. 

I don’t worry about market value. When I die, it won’t mean anything. Enjoy what you have~

I went through a period of splurging for "Better Records." In most cases, the recordings justified some premium, but I think I'm cured now. $200-$300 for a record is a fast route to the poor house. I have purchased new records for $40 that are the sonic equivalent of Better Records and they have less surface noise.

$7.99 from Tower Records on Sunset. Rinse and repeat, hundreds of times

I’m sure some are worth more than $7.99 nowadays. Many have been lost though.

I took what’s left of my collection out of long-term storage recently. To my surprise, I found a few dozen records that I have absolutely no idea where they come from. They’re definitely not mine; they’re all beat up and scratched and they have no inner or outer sleeves - the horror. Plus, I’ll admit freely that the 80s were kind of a blur and that I forgot most of it, but I can’t imagine myself ever purchasing The Carpenters or Ray Conniff LPs... and to the extent of my recollection, I never knew anyone who would either. It’s a mystery.

Having invested in an good analogue rig, I was interested in 'how good' LPs could sound.  To me, the best have a very clean, organic and relaxed sound.  Sometime the original pressings win, other times the remixed the remastered copy wins...

The best, for me... ERC from the UK.  I now have three. If memory serves, they are ~ $550 USD.  Because they are imports, the price includes ~50 USD s/h.  Today's prices are a bit higher (not including the import Tariff-Tax additional charges).