At $80 it should beat a used copy from the '70s

A new record at $80 should beat a used one from the '70s without even trying. Too often now it has to try very hard, and it still loses.

Don't misunderstand me, a near-mint original is neither cheap nor easy to find. But for some classic catalogues that were never licensed to audiophile labels, an original from the '70s, pressed when quality control was tighter, can significantly outperform the modern reissue. Japanese pressings from the late '70s and early '80s have historically outstanding quality control.

Think about what the price is supposed to buy. A sealed record carries the promise that nobody has touched it, no wear and no previous owner's mistakes. When it arrives with non-fill on side one or a click on every revolution, the factory has done what fifty years of careless owners did not.

We would never drive a new car out of the showroom with scratches from the factory on the door. Nobody would pay full price and then polish the scratches out at home, hoping for the best. Records deserve the same standard, and the buyer is the only one in a position to enforce it.

Return it, or buy the original. An $80 record that loses to a 50-year-old one has no excuse left.