Any advice on buying quality vinyl

 I found original pressings usually best and low stampers.CBS half speeds are almost always better though than originals.I stopped buying reissues years ago just not happening.Yes record wear is a huge difference on the same pressings,dramatic on some and unseen.RCA living stereo's are the most difficult records to clean.It took my years to figure how to get rid of their noise,it takes time and many cleanings and playings but worth it.I have many reissued copies which are laughably inferior to my original 1S's and CD reissues.Just look at ebay prices of NM original presses in 60's rock and RCA's they have gone way up recently.The reason? Better sound most of the time.Just my experience having played vinyl over 50 years.

I like my formula best...….. which is this...…..

I buy and listen for myself.

@voiceofvinyl. Awesome post !!!!!
please PM your business name to me
i use discogs

@playpen: "RCA living stereo’s are the most difficult records to clean. It took my years to figure how to get rid of their noise,it takes time and many cleanings and playings but worth it"

Yes and...I have spent years experimenting with cleaning methods and chemistry. The current manual approach I use is as good as, if not better, than most machines including ultrasonic units. I have done the comparisons.

Deep cleaning RCA’s does help some but there is a perceptible noise floor on most I have listened to, even sealed records (I have grudgingly opened). There have been some exceptions of course, but I attribute those that play very quietly to ideal storage conditions. For most RCA’s, under average conditions, they don’t age as well as equally old records from other premium labels from DECCA and Deutsche Grammophon Gesellshaft.

Maybe we should compare notes sometime on cleaning records?. 

This is hijacking the thread, sorry....

I will assume RCA was aware of the noise floor in their late 50's and 60's pressings because they tried to fix the problem with their Dynaflex pressings in 1969. 

A quote from a site: "Opinions from record collectors and audiophiles are divided as to Dynaflex's sound quality. Some felt that the sound quality actually improved, due to better processes for removing impurities in the vinyl compounds" 

Whether you like the thinner (floppier) pressings and ignoring whether it was a smoke screen to sell less expensive (to make) LP's, RCA claimed a new "miracle surface" that played quieter. Actually, the problem was either impurities in the vinyl (not virgin vinyl) or the plasticizers that were not doing their job.