What in the world is going on.....

Stringreen, can you be more specific as to the term lousy  as compared to the mp3...
Was it distorted, less dynamic, lacked clarity, poor imaging - get my drift?

My guess is it is a poor pressing and you should probably return it.

I've had pressings from supposedly good labels that had metal shavings in the grooves and other similar cutting related defects.

Vinyl should not sound worse than digital
Regards

Yes I own some poor recordings both on CD and LP but I will still play them even if they don't bring my system to its full potential, I want to hear the music that they contain but still recognize that the system can and does sound better with quality recordings.

BearPaws (large brass cones) which replaced the original feet. The arm is the VPI 3D plastic arm int

Late at night so I screwd up post. When I was a VPI dealer I noticed that the feet  a deference and used the Star Sound ones. I told Harry about this but I suppose that they were too expensive and most would not notice the difference.

The CD of "Will the Circle be Unbroken" was very bad compared to the LP and I could not listen to it. The remaster is much better.