Annoying trend? New vinyl equalization and compression

My friends and I often look over at each other while listening and say "these guys knew what they were doing" (meaning the engineers recording skills). 

Perhaps better mastering to retain dynamic range was/is part of it, never thought about that. I don't think superior imaging, proper choice of mic type and placement is related to this issue.

This DVD

https://www.ebay.com/itm/355010922942?_trkparms=amclksrc%3DITM%26aid%3D1110006%26algo%3DHOMESPLICE.SIM%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20201210111314%26meid%3Deb9dbb715f484bc181f2a6bc12aeab7e%26pid%3D101195%26rk%3D4%26rkt%3D12%26sd%3D294905875433%26itm%3D355010922942%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D0%26pg%3D4429486%26algv%3DSimplAMLv11WebTrimmedV3MskuWithLambda85KnnRecallV1V2V4ItemNrtInQueryAndCassiniVisualRankerAndBertRecallWithVMEV3CPCAuto&_trksid=p4429486.c101195.m1851&amdata=cksum%3A355010922942eb9dbb715f484bc181f2a6bc12aeab7e%7Cenc%3AAQAIAAABUObhgc4Nk8%252BdtAwOww4FKLaj%252FQ5qqgDlQCuqZA43WcPFUWDERCUugbbOk7XQv0JXlBfqCg2xKF3WcPghxGMFw2oSlXvfExEaMYr7I7LmrHcP6czY1wIMt0ORyKiCWt95xldincyyBx3g%252BNDW%252B%252FhWUgTaBhK6xAm%252BJIbCOMehu%252BdwouRdzCQM8hUb16%252F5r8r3M6d3FoiE04ilKIBPss60e6NSlDLmYj5pavYT%252FSU7LjCOpnzQvfoTKERbGaXXC4%252B7LOfcFq%252BdcAWLZO4yrza5NGBazCZeOUG6EnYXvwT6c%252ByR0bLsoPQJaXDx9EfG6A3tdjUUPNDetUciuFs7R6eU91PGOUZnBkMjSnHyTIaVmj3RykOKiIjlvdeGja%252F12PmvegYK49HSpiw0gvKxNgzbO%252FmjndubM6VOktjI1b6c2YFJ1ny3PKLH9386Y7O1Th6hhQ%253D%253D%7Campid%3APL_CLK%7Cclp%3A4429486&epid=30906902

Buy it NOW.

Video Quality is scary, but the sound quality is quite enjoyable.

He plays one of the largest pianos I have ever seen (don't know which Bosendorfer model)

They have 6 mics on that piano, and his separate vocal mic.

Interestingly, at some point, one of the recording staff creeps up and changes his vocal mic, his voice changes for the better (he talks, no singing).

I shake my head at such excellent recording skills.

This is main reason why I rarely purchase mass produced new vinyl. Sound Quality is the main purpose for owning HEA! The best approach is go to a thrift store and purchase everything that appears interesting from the last 25 years on CD. You will be surprised at the SQ and content level of many of these unknown CD recordings.

Most modern day music merits being compressed to the size of the universe before the now hypothetical Big Bang.

Some good info here. Just pay attention to how a repressing is mastered and wait for a while to get a read on the SQ. A lot of older issues that I like weren't really mainstream and can be had in great shape for reasonable prices.

“Are 90% of new lps being played back on such systems? ”

I was at my local used vinyl store last month, some 20 year olds came in happily got four or five records. One said “ where can we get a player?” One yelled out “ Walmart!” And away they went!