BARNES & NOBLE HAS VINYL!!!!! BUT IS THE QUALITY UP TO AUDIOPHILE STANDARDS ????


Seen this rack full of vinyl in the old barnes & noble, the art work was not the best but how is the vinyl? some great titles, has anyone tried it and like them, how is the quality, well i purchased a  Phil Collins , hello I must be going and I will get back to you with my report. 
gmosley
so as the needle played at the begining the surface noise was very bad, like it was dust on the needle, jumped in the batmoble back to old b&n was told they will only exchange it ,no money back!!!  but you can get your money back if you don't open it,now they do sell vinyl that is thicker but of course ,YOU WILL PAY MORE= THIN $21.00 THICK $26.00 can someone lead me to some good quality vinyl, online shoping, that has a decent return policy.

Sound like Barnes & Noble has a very fair return policy to me.  They were willing to exchange a copy that you opened and could no longer be considered new, for a different one.  Bravo B&N.

I am curious why you would expect a refund after breaking the cellophane, altering the record and then playing it?  Would you do this with a DVD after you watched the movie? 

Again, it is not the vendors fault if you don't like the quality of the pressing. Its the manufacturer or label as this title is sold by vendors other that B&N. Sounds to me that your relatively new to vinyl and your learning about its pros and cons.  For instance, the thickness of a record had nothing to do with its sound quality or surface noise.  Some of my quietest, best recorded LP's are thin.  180 gram Audiophile pressing is usually a marketing slogan.

When you find that online shopping outlet with the liberal return policy, let the rest of us know, OK.  Meanwhile, be aware that buying vinyl, new or used, is hit and miss.  If your worried that a new pressing may be a dog, post a question about it first before you buy.  You'll get feedback from those that are satisfied or those that will warn you to stay away.  Good luck to you.

Paraneer,

Lots of local to me record stores stacking a new releases on vinyl have descent policy. Apparently you can run into the defected copy or warped one. I ran into the warped vinyl and got that one easily and painlessly exchanged. The suppliers actually accept the defected ones and exchange. Must be real defect though. I've seen various such as uneven surface bump(s) or heavy warp. Both SHOULD qualify for exchange.
On one of the The CAN releases "Tape Sessions" I had to wait couple of weeks till they get better batch of flat records.
Suppliers do find ways to work out the defect situation with retail stores to void hit-or-miss kinda business. Not sure what kind of deal B&N has with suppliers. Perhaps they go for larger profit margin than local retailers.



The OP said nothing about a warp czarivey.  I agree - that would clearly be a defect and not visible unless the packaging is opened.  This discussion is about surface noise and this could be inherent in a poor quality pressing.  It could even be the equipment the OP is playing the LP on.  

I still think that B&N was very fair to off an exhange.  

Thank you guys!! for your help, the table that I have is a SME model 15 and my other vinyl played very well on it,the vinyl from Barnes &Noble was badly warped, and they did  take the vinyl back,and yes the thickness in vinyl does MAKE  A DIFFERANCE, other's have returned very thin vinyl back because of quality, i have started to invest in more MOFI releases with 180 gram, it work's for me.