higher end jazz vinyl: where to turn?


I'm a lifelong jazz listener but only new to entry-level hifi, as presently marketed--by which I mean Rega p3-24 turntable, Linn Classik amp, Vienna Acoutics Mozart Grand Speakers, and a lot of heart.

Anyway I have a choice set of old ECM records, Miles Davis records, and so forth, that I bought in the early 1980s. Most of them have some noise and crackle now and again--which I largely discount as the distinguished marks of age and memory. Nonetheless a clean sweet classic jazz LP played at substantial volume, even through a low midfi system like mine, is a beautiful thing. Beauty is a rare thing, I read somewhere. And it makes me wonder about upgrading the vinyl.

So here are questions:
1. Are these $50 classic content and such rereleases of Blue Notes really so good? Including worth the effort of getting up and turning the 45 over in middle of a strong Coltrane solo-a double indignity, to a genius and to the lazy.

2. What to say of all these 180g and 200g re-releases at higher prices versus the $10-20 unopened recent copy meant for mass market (or as massy as the jazz list allowed/allows)?

3. I'm using Disc Doctor record cleaners on my old and newer vinyl, but wonder how great the different is to move to a machine, say vpi 165?

4. I'm just a poor righteous teacher so I'm a bargain hunter: an Inexpensive Audiophile down with the feel of the Expensive Winos aestheticist mentality.

5. Thanks!
paanders
Are there any internet sellers y'all can recommend who do "play ratings" of used jazz vinyl (without going into budget-buster territory, which for me is a mere $50)?

Meanwhile, I guess everything depends on satisfaction guaranteed policies and the like.

It's funny being a neophyte getting his overdue sentimental education here. I buy used books online all the time, and the sellers always open the book and look through the pages for marks, marginalia, stains, even at the meagre $3 price point. Yes, it easy to do.

I very naively figured used record salespeople would do the same (perhaps beginning at $10 price point), otherwise these "condition ratings" really are only somewhat useful.

And to think that we are to trust NM and Mint ratings (and pay accordingly higher prices) on the precariousness of someone eyeballing a record for five seconds.

And the new 180g Coltrane lp I bought was slightly warped and with some telling crackles. Should I translate that crackling code into English as... "sucker! We pulled you back into vinyl with the sweet sounds of today's analog playback systems, and once you were up and ready, we brought back the noise...again."

So I guess this secondary theme regarding used vinyl and ratings folds back into the master theme of the necessity of vacuum RCMs and the invisible logic of luck.

Hey again Panders,

What cart do you have and which stylus profile? When playing used vinyl it is helpful to have a line contact or Shibata style stylus. It reduces the noise due the the increased contact area and not riding the bottom of the groove.

Good Luck,
Robert
I believe a good RCM makes sense if you have a large record collection or are a volume buyer of used vinyl. If you spend $2500 on an RCM and clean 2500 records, it's a $1 a record. The difference in sound quality is worth it. Your software is the most important part of your system.

What may not be worthwhile is the investment of time required to clean a large volume of vinyl.
Very few Ebay jazz sellers play grade anything. The biggest and best sellers jusy sell too many to do this. I would be crazy and the experienced sellers can tell from looking at a record what to grade it. But never buy from anyone who doesn't offer at leasy a 7 day money back guarantee.

In the end, you still need an RCM to buy used records. Don't expect even a near mint record from the 50's or 60's to sound good unil it is very carefully cleaned. Near mint doesn't mean clean.
Robob queried what cartridge and stylus I'm using for used jazz vinyl. It's a newish Elys 2 cartridge and stylus attached to Rega 301 on a p3-24 turntable. I was under impression this was a good entry-level midfi cartridge.