Cascade Records vinyl pressing closes

[EERecordist]

ASR has some vinyl enthusiasts. A local vinyl manufacturing factory is closing, Cascade Records/TKO.

Cascade Records has antique machinery for making records for consumers to hear.

Cascade was small, about 3000 discs a day. They did color and artistic pressings. Much more about Cascade Records can be found by search.

To get to vinyl, disc cutting and mastering on antique disc cutting lathes is necessary. Our local disc cutting/mastering lathe studio survives for now.

Sad, passing for musicians, Cascade Recording Pressings. Someone buy them.

Link of a long interview with the founder:

Many other videos of the plant are searchable.

 

[Chanur]

That really sucks.

 

[Power Pop 23]

IIRC, it was not too long ago that sellers of vinyl like MoFi were scouring the globe to secure aging equipment to press vinyl.

There is now a lower barrier to entry to manufacturing vinyl with the availability of new pressing equipment.

 

[EERecordist]

IIRC, it was not too long ago that sellers of vinyl like MoFi were scouring the globe to secure aging equipment to press vinyl.

There is now a lower barrier to entry to manufacturing vinyl with the availability of new pressing equipment.

Thanks, who makes new pressing equipment? What is their volume?

 

[Power Pop 23]

Thanks, who makes new pressing equipment? What is their volume?

I have no idea of the volume....

I recall an article in the NY Times - but can't find it - that a company in Nashville (Louisville ?) had made the investment to create new tooling and dies for vinyl pressing equipment.

other links:

Ontario, Canada

- Maximum Pressings Systems

Embark on a Sonic Odyssey with Maximum Pressing Systems, a trailblazer in vinyl record manufacturing technology. Our company stands at the forefront of the music industry’s analog renaissance. We specialize in designing and crafting Pressing units, ensuring unparalleled precision and efficiency...

maximumpressingsystems.com

VIRYL

www.viryltech.com

Sweden:

Home | Pheenix Alpha - home of the vinyl press

HOME OF THE VINYL PRESS In addition to the latest state-of-the-art Pheenix Alpha AD12 and machines for electroforming, we manufacture new presses and spare parts for both new and old Toolex Alpha machines. We also supply spare parts for Toolex CD and DVD equipment.

www.pheenixalpha.com

Germany:

Newbilt Machinery - Vinyl Record Production Equipment from Germany

NEWBILT Machinery develops and builds vinyl record production equipment. From vinyl production machines to entire factories.

newbilt-machinery.com

 

[Power Pop 23]

The link below maps and lists 40+ vinyl record pressing plants in the USA and Cascade Records joins four other companies in being listed as 'CLOSED'.

All of the Vinyl Plants in the USA (Plus Map!)

Your up-to-date (as of June 2026) list of all the independent vinyl record pressing plants in the United States of America. Featuring an interactive map!

hellbendervinyl.com

 

[Waxx]

European vinyl plants florish actually. The long waiting rows are a bit gone with new plants that appeared. They all use new build equipment, as several manufacturers of those appeared, with as most known the german company newbilt. They often deliver a much better pressing quality than the many outworn machines in some plants, and those are getting in trouble often. But the market is not down at all, it's still growing fast and if your plant can deliver consistant high quality pressings, your orderbook is full. A new pressing plant in Belgium was already booked for months while it was still in construction and since then had no shortage of orders at all. Their waiting row is now about 2-4 months.

But starting up is expensive, and often a multimillion investiment. So not many can do that.