Another Vinyl question

[admin_exported]

Getting back into vinyl, I notice everyone quoting the weight of their LP's, "mines a 180g or I've got a 200g pressing..." So, 2 questions come to mind;

Is there a way to tell what the weight is, or do you get the kitchen scales out?

How does a heavier disc produce a better sound?

Martin

 

[DavidNorway]

These days you will find a big sticker on the front cover telling you its 180grm,makes people think they are buying something special which is not always true.I have no idea how the heavier disc makes better sound(sometimes) i would like to know too.

 

[chebby]

In theory there is less likelehood of warpage and less groove noise (due more to the purity of the vinyl used in production).

A lot of older LPs (1950s - early 1960s jazz & classical especially) were quite heavy anyway, and pressed on harder plastic. Later on, LPs were made thinner and more recycled material was used in production. This was due to various factors like the explosion in demand caused by pop & rock (and a huge 'baby boomer' customer base), and things like the oil crisis of the early 1970s quadrupling the cost of raw materials).

In the 1970s companies like JVC were experimenting with quadrophonic formats (like CD-4) and the ultrasonic signals necessary for processing quadrophonic (with special styli) could literally be worn off a pressing made from the typical grade of vinyl in use by then. So some of these Japanese companies started using heavy, hard vinyl to preserve the quadrophonic signals in the pressing.

Imported Japanese re-pressings on this grade of vinyl became popular with enthusiasts even after all the quadrophonic formats were dropped.

 

[margetti]

MartSmith:
How does a heavier disc produce a better sound?

Quick answer - no. From my understanding, the weight of the vinyl makes no impicit difference to the SQ. The recording, mastering, engineering etc will have the most siginificant impact on SQ...

That said, recordings where attention to detail has been made to the production, engineering (et al) are often pressed on to heavier vinyl (heavier vinyl does have the advantage of being less susceptible to damage and warping, and thus should last longer). The logic being that you've made the extra effort at every other stage of the process, why not continue that on with the heavier vinyl...

So, in conclusion... yes, chances are the heavier vinyl will sound better, but that is not because of the 180g or 200g vinyl per se, but the effort put into the other production factors. Hope that makes some sort of sense!

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks all, really useful answers.

 

[margetti]

An interesting blog on the B&W website here, which expands a little further on the subject...

 

[gbhsi1]

margetti:An interesting blog on the B&W website here, which expands a little further on the subject...
That's a very interesting read Margetti 🙂 Thank you.

 

[margetti]

gbhsi1:margetti:An interesting blog on the B&W website here, which expands a little further on the subject...
That's a very interesting read Margetti 🙂 Thank you.

No problem at all - learnt a few things from it myself

 

[DIB]

I've bought two "heavyweight" LPs in the last year.

Pink Floyd's DSOTM - excellent. Steven Wilson's "Insurgentes" - crackly. 50/50 succes rate.

I've bought 35 year old 2nd hand LPs off Ebay for 99p which are perfect.

I can't work it out other than I know I'm not going to be paying over £20 for a new LP again.

.