12" 45 RPM records: What's the story?

No has to buy them Audioieool! BUT if you care about good sound, I would recommend them. I have perhaps twenty of them and I have yet to hear one that is not far and away better than the original LP.

I'm not talking about dance club issues, but decent Classic Reissues, or MoFi stuff. Buy one and hear the difference. If it's not markedly better, you learned your lesson. The version of "St James Infirmary" from Satchmo Plays King Oliver is just unreal, or maybe I should say too real. Give it a try...

I do not agree that "most (not 100%) are dramatically better than the original pressings in every aspect".

That is pure hyperbole.

Some are better; most are not. Save a second or third issue, my entire collection of 5000+ is comprised of original pressings spanning 1957-present.

I own three dozen of these 45RPM reissues. To a large extent, IMO, they are a waste of money. I believe you are better served seeking out pristine originals. YMMV

Some (45's) are better; most are not....my entire collection of 5000+ is comprised of original pressings spanning 1957-present

Well that doesn't match my experience but I never got close to 5000 LP's

I also used to buy import Japanese pressings of good LP's that I liked...expensive to own the same LP twice but I honestly felt there was an improvement in the better pressing quality.

I must admit that this is a long time ago and I can't be absolutely sure if my findings were not related to wear and tear on the originals too as I never compared brand new with brand new...although some North American pressings were obviously bad (light weight and they had warps in them)

...my TT rig was like $300 dollars (as a student)....nothing like the beauties most of you Analog guys own on these forums... that might be a factor too...just my two cents

Shadorne,
Two brief caveats to my prior email. Your point is well taken. In most cases I find that UK, German, and Japanese pressings are better than their US counterparts.

Second, I don't mean to imply the 45RPM reissues are not good products. In fact most are very good. However, my experience is the difference in the reissues that are better than the originals is marginal not drastic and not worth the high price. With few exceptions, as I posted, I prefer original pressings.

Thanks for your comments.

At 33 rpm the speed of the vinyl passing the stylus as the LP reaches the inner grooves is too slow. This will result in sonic degradation either because of the slowness, or because the recording engineer has manipulated the signal so as to better tolerate the slow speed. By spinning the disc at 45 rpm audio quality of the inner grooves is maintained, and it doesn't hurt the outer grooves. In addition to the higher rpm, audiophile recordings may use wider groove spacing to minimize pre-echo, and various other tricks that improve sound at the cost of playing time.