Is heavy vinyl worth it?

Zaikesman, in a bolt of counter-intuitive energy I recently purchased (and I am repeating myself here, so people who know this tale can go and do something else) a Rega P-9 with RB 1000 arm and an Ortofon Kontrapunkt B cartridge and, this week, got a used Audio Research PH 3. For me it is a considerable expense. That I did this on what is for me a tangent makes it even more of a challenge. There is one store that I know of here in Montreal where new vinyl can be purchased. Over the last little while I bought 13 new albums and have had many surprises (both good and bad) but, unfortunately, the bad ones seem to weigh more heavily. The initial question was on the value of spending on heavier vinyl. One of the albums I bought was a reissue of Mile Davis' “My Funny Valentine” on 180-gram vinyl. Before hearing it and just by a visual examination I even said that it looked nice and flat, this based on my belief that these pressings were "audiophile" grade. Well to my surprise and consternation the damn thing was so warped I couldn't even cue it. The store was nice enough to exchange it, that is not the problem (although I fear that if I bring back every record that I find is wanting insofar as pressing and surfaces go, that I will be told (probably politely) to take a hike or, as Hwy 61 so nicely put, that if I can't accept the trial and tribulations of vinyl on the road to superior analog sound I need not bother joining the club). I could run down the list of what I bought, but why bother. Suffice it to say that the replacement 180-gram album Miles Davis "Seven Steps to Heaven" is flat and as noise free as analog probably gets. The "ordinary" pressings are a mixed bag. The worst I got by far is a reissue of Roland Kirk's "The Inflated Tear" that is so noisy, that has a surface scratch and an edge warp. At nearly twenty bucks it is good for the garbage. Another one in the same vein is Lee Morgan's "Candy". On the positive side, two, for want of a better expression, NOS, Pablo albums of Zoot Sims are good pressings and the music is great. So, based on this limited sampling, I don’t think that heavier vinyl is a guarantee of anything, except a steeper price. When analog sounds good, it is really nice, but when you just spent forty bucks on two albums that are unplayable are you wrong to conclude that, insofar as the quality of pressings, nothing has changed in over twenty years? The next purchase is some form of record cleaning machine. I will then be able to put to the test the myriad suggestions I have gotten that the noise is usually the result of dirty grooves. Hell, a fellow even opined that edge warps don't cause any audible problems that it's the dirt in the hard to reach warped areas that is the culprit! I guess I will be able to test firsthand this proposition. Another step I want to take is going over the cart set-up, possibly by purchasing a Wallytractor. I still have a bunch of test discs from years gone by (Omnidisc, two Shure test records and one from McGill University issued by Sound & Vision many moons ago). I am still uncertain that I have the patience and dexterity to go through this process though, and may decide to find a technician knowledgeable in such things. So don't read too much or too little in what I write and don't beat a man for trying. Insofar as the clubbish attitude that vinyl is only for the courageous, the well heeled or the one's in the know, spare me. Good day.

Pbb, didn't you once state that too much bacon was bad for your chlorestoral?

Yes, Muncy and guess what? CD/SACD still does silence better than vinyl. Silence being an integral part of music, I guess one is better served by having many sources and using the medium that gives the best result for whatever particular piece or performance you want to hear. BTW, what do you usually listen to?

Pbb, Unless you're quite committed to vinyl in general and your present TT/arm/cartridge in particular, a $150USD WallyTractor might be of dubious value. The Wally may be the best protractor around, but it's custom-made for one particular setup. Changing TT, arm or cartridge normally renders it useless.

Check out the generic protractor at www.turntablebasics.com. It's a very good product, next best thing to a Wally and just $20USD + freight.

Yes Pbb, I agree that the 'vinyl club' mentality is just too too precious and deserves a roll of the eyes. (BTW, nice album choices.)

I make no pretense of my reasons for loving records: 1) the availability of a galaxy of used product, much of it never released in any other form; 2) the sensual aspects of old records as collectable, time-capsule-worthy objects de art, and the love for the hunt. The fact that my collection of thousands and thousands of recordings is biased at over 90% towards vinyl has absolutely nothing to do with: 1) any audiophile or sonic considerations, though of course there are instances where the original LP does sound better than any subsequent digital reissue (but plenty of instances of the reverse too); 2) any romantic notions regarding the physical 'ritual' of cleaning or playing records, turntable set-up, etc (which is not to say that I don't sometimes enjoy these aspects - though just as often they're a pain - but only that they don't figure into my purchasing decisions).

Since I buy hardly any brand-new vinyl (and none of what I do buy is geared toward the 'audiophile' market) - and also don't often go in for buying valuable used items at collector prices (I prefer to dig stuff up on my own for cheap) - I'm much less concerned than you with questions of pristine sonic purity related to condition (never mind recording quality - I listen to a lot of stuff that would make most audiophiles run from the room). But I certainly acknowledge that if I were buying new 'audiophile' heavy vinyl disks at $20-$30 a pop, I would be pissed off if they weren't immaculate pressings.

I'm glad to hear that you've decided to reinvestigate vinyl for yourself and put your money where your mouth is. Maybe, like me, you'll come to the conclusion that there's nothing 'magical' about the sound of records vs. good digital. The closest I come to adopting that position is in actually enjoying the 'atmosphere' generated by playing scratchy old 45's and 78's, but not in obsessing about the fidelity of the music itself, which I find can be decently - though not absolutely - served by either medium. Frankly, I wish I could have random access at the push of a button from my listening seat with vinyl as I do with CD's, or listen to extended works without enduring forced side breaks. And I am fully appreciative of the fact that the digital revolution granted music listeners the luxury of enjoying a flood of new reissues, including much insanely rare stuff that we'd never otherwise find or be able to afford. So I am no analog-reactionary with an axe to grind.

But I do tend to snicker a bit at audiophiles - and please pardon me if this catagory includes yourself - who start plunking down again for brand new analog rigs and software motivated purely out of propaganda concerning sonics. Absent any interest in buying used vinyl, or already possessing a sizeable record collection that ain't going nowhere, I find this trend bemusing at best, futilely typical of our breed at worst. For me, the only everriding reason to get into vinyl is in being able to listen to *more music*. I hold no truck with the audio-weenie mentality that leads to analog diletantism wherein a 'record collection' can be described as 200 brand-new audiophile pressings of only audiophile-approved music. Yuck.

Yes my Cannuck friend, welcome back to The Club (wink wink, nudge nudge)! At least now you have renewed your right to bitch... :-)

P.S. - Lrsky: There are always other possibilities besides the heavy vinyl itself why the vintage pressing sounded best in your anecdote. And routine record-clamping takes care of the vinyl resonance issue for normal-weight pressings.