MOBILE FIDELITY ONE STEP VINYL

Unless you know what you are looking for, many japanese pressings can sound very thin, almost anemic

Even the pressings from the 70's and early 80's?

It depends. You have to know what you are looking for. Yes, even the pressings from 70’s and 80’s.  Even reissue US pressings can sound thin as well.  

Many from this period were not pressed on virgin vinyl so they can have some surface noise but they still can sound very good.

Thanks, I'm about to purchase a few from Japan and I don't have a real comparison point for many

@millercarbon  Nope, the gear makes all the difference! If you think one can judge records by listening to a Crosley all in one, then yes, you would be right! After all, the Crosley is a turntable and has speakers...;0)
You can use your ears and apply your listening skills all you like, the Crosley is the Crosley.......

@daveyf -
in an ideal world it would be great to get the best vinyl of the lot that sounds ideal in your specific system to you, but this option is not very feasible.

So yes, Better Records is using their audio chain and using their own criteria to choose vinyl. Isn’t that what audio reviewers do anyhow? All that we can rely on is assuming they have developed sufficient expertise at least thru volume vinyl reviewing and also thru customer reviews/feedback. I believe they couldn’t stay in business unless offering a significant uptick in sound quality enough to justify the premium pricing.

Like most things audiophile, you have to pay $$ for upticks in performance