Vinyl Lovers


After a marathon session of ultrasonically cleaning some of my vinyl treasures, I discovered that a few of them had what I'll call "skip-scratches" on various cuts. I have many more to clean (i.e.  somewhere around 5 to 6 hundred, mostly original 60s & 70s LPs) and fully expect to encounter more bruised babies along the way, not all of which I'll probably replace with vinyl re-issues or re-pressings. Some of my all-time favorites, however, I definitely will want to replace, providing I can find good quality re-issues/re-pressings. I know there is much to learn about this, and I am just beginning to scratch the surface (no pun intended). For example, there are issues of so called "virgin vinyl", quality of the vinyl mix, thickness of vinyl, recording from original master tapes, if still in existence and in good condition, quality of the actual pressing process, etc., etc., etc.

So, I guess my question for you all who know much more about this than I, is where the best places are to buy the best quality vinyl re-issues or re-pressings. Local record shops are few and far between and most of them don't have much in the way of variety or stock in anything other than used records. I'm familiar with Discogs but, frankly, am reluctant to buy used records on-line because I don't entirely trust the purveyors' ratings and the endemic hassles of possible returns. Most of the re-issues/re-pressings I've purchased, thus far, have been from or through Music Direct. I've noticed that some of their offerings actually come from companies like:  Island Records; Impex; RHINO and other sources.

So, what are some of your go-to, solid, reputable standbys?

Thanks Much!

oldaudiophile

OP,,

I had a Phillips 212 in the mid 70’s. I don’t know where it got a reputation for being a good turntable. It was so bad compared to all my future turntables. I’m older than that.

My first turntable was inside a beautiful, dark, hard wood tubed counsel built in the 1950’s… you know the one you had to tape a nickel to the top of the tone arm to make it not skip. The radio sounded sweet though.

@bigtwin 

I have had to return a lot of records to Amazon. Their packaging is frequently comical to say the least. 

Occasionally after VPI cleaning I have encountered a skip and after close inspection was able to remove a stubborn spec of debris carefully using a sharp plastic toothpick or similar. 

 

I have had good luck with ebay.  Its true that some of the listings grade items as NM when they should be lower, but then I contact the seller.  Sometimes the seller offers a partial refund and soometimes a full refund.  One seller refused to cooperate and ebay said I could just keep it and they would deal with the seller.  I tried to get an album thru Discogs but they would not accept my credit card so i had to contact the seller and cancel the purchase, so I no longer buy from Discogs.

I also used to buy locally, but they seem to have a problem with returns.  I still go to local shops but I'm very selective.