mash
Active Member
- Joined
- Oct 8, 2020
- Messages
- 130
- Likes
- 274
Since getting back into vinyl one of the more interesting things that I have noticed is the lack of manufacturing quality controls on new sealed vinyl. Without really tracking it, I'm noticing that about +5% of my new vinyls have some type of manufacturing defect. This can range from some strange cloudiness patches (noticeable in the run out area), to sleeve scuff marks, to marks/scratches/blotches in the body of the recording. It also doesn't seem to matter who the label/manufacturer is (e.g. I've seen defects with run-of-the-mill releases and high-end audiophile pressings). Generally, the issues make little-to-no audible impact but its massively irritating to lay out $20-60 for a new record only to find manufacturing defects.
This has led me to make several changes for how I buy new vinyl....
For local stores, I make sure to save my receipt (and have returned several records). To date, I've been checking my new vinyl at home but I'm starting to think its a better approach to open and inspect ALL of my new purchases before I leave the store. Online purchases are much harder. At this point, I'm limiting my purchases to a much smaller number of vendors that I trust and/or have had good results with.
Wondering what others are seeing and/or how you are handling the issue?
This has led me to make several changes for how I buy new vinyl....
For local stores, I make sure to save my receipt (and have returned several records). To date, I've been checking my new vinyl at home but I'm starting to think its a better approach to open and inspect ALL of my new purchases before I leave the store. Online purchases are much harder. At this point, I'm limiting my purchases to a much smaller number of vendors that I trust and/or have had good results with.
Wondering what others are seeing and/or how you are handling the issue?