How many times have you ...


bought a remaster from the original tape or otherwise and it sounded worse than your decades old original?  For me it is almost always.  Anyone know the reason a pristine original copy isn’t recorded to a master tape and repressed?  
wlutke
Ha!  I just bought a box of records on ebay and I told the nice man to take out all the "Direct Metal Mastering" ones and throw them out.

There have been 78s that are more interesting to listen to than new reissues.

It is indeed hit-or-miss.  Except Rhino.  Every disc I ever bought from Rhino sounded awful.
If I buy a reissue, it's to acquire a recording I didn't have in my collection or to replace one that was damaged through the years.  

That said, I did get one of the early reissues of the RCA Reiner "Scheherazade" a few years ago.  A friend had an original 1S and a 5S pressing.  We compared them and felt that the reissue was cleaner and more detailed than the original.  The difference was not subtle   His 5S sounded better than his 1S.  This example is the exception rather than the rule in my limited experience.

I also have a couple of original EMI City of Birmingham "Le Cid" that easily outperform the Klavier reissue.  I had the Klavier first and was gifted the originals.  

Just like a many manufacturing of environments back in the day, vinyl stampers were used well beyond their lifespan. Stamping machines were not properly adjusted, maintained at required intervals. It was all about pushing product out the door and not slowing production. Close to shift change? "Keep the presses moving along...I’m not taking the changeover hit on my shift". People talk about unmotivated and downright lazy practices by US automotive employees back in the day? Same thing at record pressing plants (and other industries). The 70’s (well into 80’s and 90’s) was an all time low for quality work practices in all of US manufacturing. Vinyl record production was no different. Mastering is a major part of an LP's sound, however, poor manufacturing practices and materials can kill any sonic advantages of vinyl. First pressings done closest to release date are probably the best you will find (outside of some audiophile version) IMO.
A lot of reissues suck, and it can be VERY frustrating dropping a lot of money to get somthing you'll NEVER want to play again. For example, I got suckered on the 200g DMM Rush remasters, ugh. Absolutely unplayable once you realize how superior the 1970s issues are. Then again, there are a few reissue gems out there - Red Hot Chili Peppers BSSM, Alice In Chains "Unplugged" and "Jar of Flies", for example.
Terrible expensive reissue and hi-end systems ... if the software is not up to that, what good is an expensive audio chain?
Inadequate sound engineer, digital console or other ... whose fault is it?