I only buy "Oxygen Free" vinyl and then I have to wait until it "burns in"
before it sounds good. :lmao:
Just make sure you always play it in the same direction - turning clockwise, stylus moving counter-clockwise vis-a-vis the record. If you play it backwards, you'll have to play it the right way again for a few dozen repetitions, to make it right again.
I'm waiting for them to release Beryllium vinyl records, backed with maple wood.
Thicker doesn't always mean better just like higher riced gear isn't always better. I have a few 180's and 200's. Do they sound better, IMHO, I don't see it. Now on the other hand, those 45RPM LP's sound absolutely Fanfreakintastic!!
I think the idea that thicker vinyl affects vibrations travelling within the record is plausible. The thickness of the record should make a difference. The way vibrations travel from (and/or reflect towards) the stylus-groove interface affects sound. Otherwise, things like platter mats and platter material and mass wouldn't make much difference.
BUT many other things have a MUCH bigger impact than record weight/thickness. The quality of the recording (mastering), pressing, etc... is more important. Given that you have a vinyl record atop other stuff (mat, platter, etc...), and grooves and cartridges and tonearms and wires and systems and many other things that have a bigger impact on the sound, the relative thickness of the vinyl record itself may be of relatively little importance; so little that we cannot ordinarily hear what difference it might make. Other differences "swamp" it, in comparison.
Probably the only way to really know what difference record weight makes would be to make two pressings from exactly the same stamper, etc... but with different weights of vinyl. Then compare their sound on a single system. Repeatedly doing this with different samples might indicate a difference.
Another interesting test would be to make the difference in thickness more extreme. What if a record were 1 inch thick, and weighed a few hundred grams? Would it sound much different? That would suggest how record thickness affects sound, by exaggerating the difference in thicknesses.
I've seen platter mats made from record-material vinyl, and DIY platters made from old records melted/pressed/glued together (the last option introduces another factor, CLD - not really relevant here). The idea behind these is that using the same material (vinyl) will lead vibrations away from the stylus-groove interface more smoothly and readily, since it is the same material as the record. I'm not sure if this thinking is wholly valid, or if it is mostly "marketing hype", like the whole "180 gram" marketing phenomenon.
But even if it makes no audible difference, I like to have as many variables as I can pushed towards better sound, as far as I can reasonably push them. ALL ELSE EQUAL (to the extent that it is possible), I'd prefer a heavier record to a lighter one. But I've got some great recordings that are thin and light, and some mediocre ones on heavy vinyl, so I know that the weight of the record is a minor factor in sound quality, at best.
There is also a completely subjective feel to this: I LIKE the feel of a heavy, solid record. The greater stiffness and heft of it "feels like" higher quality, when taking it out of the jacket and putting it on the platter. That's a nice feeling, which --even if it actually has no impact upon what I hear-- might have some psycho-acoustical influence (?).
