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Is heavy vinyl worth it?

I just got into vinyl and am starting to build a vinyl collection starting from zero records. I bought an OJC copy of Sonny Rollins' Way Out West and it sounds great even on just regular vinyl. I'm wondering if buying the heavy vinyl (180g, 200g) is worth it in general...they're upwards of $30 in some cases. Do they really sound better? What are the advantages? Is it a longevity issue? Do the heavy vinyl versions sometimes contain better remastering?

Thanks,
Winston
wcheng
onhwy61's avatar
onhwy61
5,152 posts
 
Vinyl is like tube components, they're not for everyone. Only you can determine if vinyl is worth the hassles.
marakanetz's avatar
marakanetz
5,473 posts
 
My favourite are the ordinary German vinyls 70g. Most of them in my collection are as quiet as CDs especially if listened through speakers. A-bit of noise is through headphones. When I sell vinyl I play it through headphone to give a precise condition.
Although flimzy vinyl is more vulnerable to the wether conditions i.e. humidity, temperature.
electronica
14 posts
 
Agreed. Real tough to beat those german pressings. The other thing they do is to last. I've never thought the UK pressings or especially the japaneese pressings held up as well when you've played them for a lot of years & you just seem to develop more surface noise than the german counterparts.
quincy
330 posts
 
YES! YES! YES! BEYOND A DOUBT THE HEAVY VIRGIN VINYL RECORDINGS ARE EXCELLENT. THE 'CLASSIC RECORDS' 200 GRAM SERIES WILL SPOIL YOUR EARS!
REGARDS,
pbb
1,140 posts
 
Onhwy61, do you actually think that warped records are a positive side of vinyl? I have heard of the hairshirt sect of audio, but your answer, posed as a sort of challenge to the worthy, is arrogant and ill conceived.
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