Brand new vinyl - what’s acceptable to you?

Vinyl isn’t my preferred medium.  I actually just ordered my first LPs in months, a set of Colin Davis and the Boston Symphony Sibelius Symphonies, because the standard CD transfer sounds muffled and I want to compare them to the original LPs.  However I realize that excellent results can be obtained with vinyl.

   
  I think it’s ridiculous that many new premium issues of decades old recordings on new vinyl arrive with significant flaws whilst brand new.  There was a Facebook page of someone posting pictures of the DG premium releases with huge, obvious defects in the vinyl.  These are going for roughly $60 per LP.

  Any CD, SACD, or Blu-Ray that charged a huge markup and had this kind of QC issue wouldn’t survive in the marketplace.  I realize that vinyl listeners are much more tolerant of noise and defects and occasionally even embrace the rituals and expense required to minimize them.  However I don’t think that there should be any tolerance for expensive crap right out of the gate.

  Just my two cents as a listener that greatly prefers digital 

@speedthrills ​​​​@mahler123 

You both make very good points. Prices are getting steep and the quality control isn’t there. I will note that vinyl isn’t my preferred medium as I have significantly more invested in my digital source, and more than I should in vinyl. But they can both be satisfying mediums and disappointing mediums at times. So, I’d prefer to not let this discuss devolve into what’s better. 

The question I originally posed has been answered: not much noise is acceptable. It’s an imperfect medium but close to silent is achievable. 

That said - as I noted earlier, even silence may not be the only goal. The Norah Jones album I purchased (and am returning as it had too many defects) also sounded poor. Why there are so many remasters of so many greats is bewildering. I am becoming ever more skeptical of anything with a “remastered” in its name. 

Perhaps vinyl is 'outrageously priced' if you just look at the number amount it is, but in 1967 I was regularly buying albums for $5 ($4 if I'd wanted mono) at record shops and department stores. That is about $48.50 in today's dollars. 

Not “going into” things too much (reference a few posts back)

A 70k system is not the end all of all debates that we could all be “going into”

If the 70k of equipment is not carefully matched, l would expect everything that is “going into” it will possibly not all end up sounding like 70k.….. 

@larsman 

"Perhaps vinyl is 'outrageously priced' if you just look at the number amount it is, but in 1967 I was regularly buying albums for $5 ($4 if I'd wanted mono) at record shops and department stores. That is about $48.50 in today's dollars."

Yup!