Quality of new vs. old pressings

AVForums

Help Support AVForums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

User121314

AVForums Grandmaster
*
Joined
Dec 28, 2014
Messages
7,462
Reaction score
1,815
Location
Johannesburg
I must have around 200 LP's currently.

150 off are old - purchased by myself in the '80's & the rest inherited from my Dad, some dating back as far as the 1950's.

Of the 50 odd that I've purchased in the last 2 odd months probably 20 of them are brand new. Either re-issued or a new release.

The 150 old ones have not a single fault on them. Some snap, crackle & pop, a few with scratches, but they all play through with zero major issues.

Of the 20 brand new ones, I've had 3 that have had to be returned.

ZZTop Eliminator: Side 2, track1 "Legs". Track is cut short by around 60 seconds & just ends abruptly in the middle of a guitar solo. Boom. Stop dead. 10 second silence & the next track starts again. Sony Music replaced it without question. Replacement does exactly the same thing. Sony are now sourcing another copy, this time from overseas & we will try again. Clearly a fault in the pressing or master that they used is my opinion.

Counting Crows August & Everything After: Double 45rpm LP, highly acclaimed pressing/mastering. Side 4, track 2. Skips halfway through the track. No dirt or muck on the LP. No visible mark/point where it skips either. Seems to be a fault on the LP.

Both issues are bloody annoying to me. Seems the quality of modern pressings is substandard compared to older ones.
 
Top