Definitive Audiophile pressings

Andy said:
So when I bough the Dylan Supervillains Vinyl from Music Direct last year, I ordered another album that had a defect that made it unlistenable They were really good and basically offered to send out another copy with my next purchase. I had Blonde on Blonde on back order but since added Miles on the Corner & Ellington Jazz party.

I got bored of waiting for the Blonde on Blonde repress, so asked them to send out what they had, all arrived yesterday. listening today & get to Jazz party & there is warp. I'm sure @Mather has had worse. It plays ok but I can see the needle bouncing up & down.

My question to you all is, how big a warp does it need to be to complain? Also, How bad does it look, if I've only received 2 shipments & complained about both of them?

I'm completely on the fence as what to do.
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when you say bouncing, you don't mean jump do you? that would be bad for the cart for sure. For me it depends on the price of the record. If it doesn't affect playback but the record is $120, I ask for replacement. Otherwise I just suck it up. I had one occasion with a side warp that was making my arm jump, and that was an immediate return.
 
Andy said:
maybe they will follow the Craft example & have an international online store
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I’ve bought internationally off MD before and it wasn’t friendly. Had to agree to disclaim if lost in the post and agree to being responsible to all duty, which I already was by law, and they wanted that in writing in an email. They were basically making it as unlikely as possible that you’d bother. I’m guessing that encapsulates their attitude to the market outside the US in general.
 
Mather said:
I used to, but I just expect it now. My clamp takes care of most of them so they play flat, which is really all I care about. Quite frankly the thing that's annoying me more these days is that even on the lowest setting I've had several warped new presses melt in my Furutech flattener. And there's no way that should be happening on 180 gram new vinyl. So some plants must be doing something with their formulas that's causing the issue since it's never been a problem in the past. So now I'm getting gun shy to flatten anything valuable and that's exactly why I bought this in the first place.
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What clamp do you have to make both sides flat? The other option I know of is an outer rim, but that's sounds like a hassle more than anything.
 
Mather said:
I used to, but I just expect it now. My clamp takes care of most of them so they play flat, which is really all I care about. Quite frankly the thing that's annoying me more these days is that even on the lowest setting I've had several warped new presses melt in my Furutech flattener. And there's no way that should be happening on 180 gram new vinyl. So some plants must be doing something with their formulas that's causing the issue since it's never been a problem in the past. So now I'm getting gun shy to flatten anything valuable and that's exactly why I bought this in the first place.
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have you contacted Furutech for their opinion?
 
Mr Moustache said:
What clamp do you have to make both sides flat? The other option I know of is an outer rim, but that's sounds like a hassle more than anything.
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My TT has a screw down clamp (I'm not sure why more don't have this option, I'm sure they're a reason though). So I made a little felt washer that I put on the spindle under the record, then I clamp down over it and it flattens it out. Really bad edge warps are still tough though.
 
Joe Mac said:
I’ve bought internationally off MD before and it wasn’t friendly. Had to agree to disclaim if lost in the post and agree to being responsible to all duty, which I already was by law, and they wanted that in writing in an email. They were basically making it as unlikely as possible that you’d bother. I’m guessing that encapsulates their attitude to the market outside the US in general.
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yeah, weird. As others already mentioned I have only positive things to say about purchases with them. Their CS is really fast and helpful. As you say, maybe they're being unfriendly on purpose?
 
Mr Moustache said:
yeah, weird. As others already mentioned I have only positive things to say about purchases with them. Their CS is really fast and helpful. As you say, maybe they're being unfriendly on purpose?
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Oh that’s exactly what I think it was. They’ll sell abroad but they don’t want to so make it difficult.
 
Mr Moustache said:
when you say bouncing, you don't mean jump do you? that would be bad for the cart for sure. For me it depends on the price of the record. If it doesn't affect playback but the record is $120, I ask for replacement. Otherwise I just suck it up. I had one occasion with a side warp that was making my arm jump, and that was an immediate return.
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Not that bad, the needle is tracking. If it was a cheaper record I would definitely suck it up. It's not a one step, but its a Analogue Productions 33 pressing. it looks reasonably flat but you can see quite a bit of movement on the cart.
 
Joe Mac said:
I’ve bought internationally off MD before and it wasn’t friendly. Had to agree to disclaim if lost in the post and agree to being responsible to all duty, which I already was by law, and they wanted that in writing in an email. They were basically making it as unlikely as possible that you’d bother. I’m guessing that encapsulates their attitude to the market outside the US in general.
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They did that to me as well, but the first record I received that was a defect they did replace (add another copy to my next order) without question
 
Mather said:
I haven't, I've looked around and they don't really seem to have an English speaking CS presence. Even the manual is barely English.
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It's worth pinging them, particularly if it's melted records on the lowest setting. they might do something for you
 
Andy said:
It's worth pinging them, particularly if it's melted records on the lowest setting. they might do something for you
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I don't think it's the machine though, I suspect it's the vinyl formulation. It's also flattened others perfectly fine. Older pressings are pretty much automatic that they flatten perfectly. I suspect in the haste to press as quickly and cheaply as possible some places have started cutting corners.
 
Joe Mac said:
Oh that’s exactly what I think it was. They’ll sell abroad but they don’t want to so make it difficult.
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Just saw your posts on the Fresh Grabs. I have a bunch of stuff outstanding with him. I'm just hoping he will come good soon.
 
Mather said:
I don't think it's the machine though, I suspect it's the vinyl formulation. It's also flattened others perfectly fine. Older pressings are pretty much automatic that they flatten perfectly. I suspect in the haste to press as quickly and cheaply as possible some places have started cutting corners.
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That's pretty shit
 
Andy said:
Just saw your posts on the Fresh Grabs. I have a bunch of stuff outstanding with him. I'm just hoping he will come good soon.
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If it’s all in stock he’s fine and he dispatches quick and packages it as well as, if not better than, anywhere else. He’s just a bit odd so if you have to email him the conversations are a little strange. That said he tends to sort everything out even if you have to be baffled a few times along the way.
 
Out of interest, anyone have a recommendation for record clamp / weight for a technics 1210? I read mixed things about compatibility with them & am not sure if she should get one or not.
 
Andy said:
Out of interest, anyone have a recommendation for record clamp / weight for a technics 1210? I read mixed things about compatibility with them & am not sure if she should get one or not.
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I think there are disputes around clamps but that generally a weight is ok because you could sit a tank on the thing and it’d be fine. The ones I’ve seen mentioned as being recommended are the KAB, the AT and Oyaide if you’re feeling flush.
 
Joe Mac said:
If it’s all in stock he’s fine and he dispatches quick and packages it as well as, if not better than, anywhere else. He’s just a bit odd so if you have to email him the conversations are a little strange. That said he tends to sort everything out even if you have to be baffled a few times along the way.
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I've been very impressed in the past. And he has come up with one record that I didn't think he would get. I ordered Bill Withers at Carnegie Hall from him in early October. I e-mailed him when I was drunk some time over the Christmas holidays asking for a refund given that it's been 3 months, saying I didn't think it was available anymore, but didn't get a response. I want the record & a big part of me things he'll get it but another part of me is not so sure.

I also have some other orders, I'm waiting on but I think it's due to problems with some releases, I'm hoping I'll get them in the next week or so.
 
Joe Mac said:
I think there are disputes around clamps but that generally a weight is ok because you could sit a tank on the thing and it’d be fine. The ones I’ve seen mentioned as being recommended are the KAB, the AT and Oyaide if you’re feeling flush.
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I'm definitely not feeling flush :)
 
Mather said:
Oh I completely agree on the price. I swapped for Idris. The price is silly. I also swapped last month for this album:
View attachment 84480
And it's really fun. Pressed at Pallas, dead quiet, obviously the songs vary in quality depending on the master so it's not exactly audiophile but it's a good one if you like that style of music.
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I had that one on CD many years ago. It was from David Byrne's label IIRC. Some good african-psych tracks on there.
 
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