the worse this is 180/200g non fill... terrible
I agree with you about the non-fill, audiotomb. Oddly, notwithstanding all the 180g purchases I made in that early era, I never experienced this problem. I think I must have lived a charmed purchasing life.
The higher quality pressing plants now pressing 180g (like RTI and Optimal) seem to have gotten this under control today with proper attention being paid to temperature control. Quality Records (QRP) is the only plant I’m aware of currently pressing 200g and they’ve re-engineered their presses for this weight vinyl - all the LPs I’ve received from them have been perfect.
And, with these 180g and 200g pressings, changing VTA is a must. I know a number of otherwise highly critical listeners who don’t change their VTA with different pressings and it makes me wonder how they can truly evaluate the sound quality. If you’re tonearm doesn’t easily allow for changing VTA (actually SRA), I understand how all of these different pressing weights turn into a big pain in the tuckus.
(For those interested, there are a number of good posts on Audiogon about changing VTA/SRA and the differences this makes.)