12" 45 RPM records: What's the story?

One advantage is more exercise for audiophiles than 33 1/3RPM....You will notice in general audiophiles with Turntables are in a little better shape than those with cd only and those that listen to tuners more are a little plumper than the average audiophile...JD

As Shadorne says the ones I used to own always claimed better dynamic range and it seemed that way to me. Although I always felt like I was being taken advantage of because of the shorter playing time.

remember the 45rpm versions are usually done well after the 33's so you can buy them twice. god bless the music industry.

Mo money Mo money Mo money

you need to make a distinction between the 12" 45's that were 'dance club' singles......and the 12" 45's that are audiophile reissues of various very popular older recordings.

the 'dance club' 45's are all over the board in quality.....mostly bad. i spent about 6 months buying 30 or 40 of these on ebay a couple of years ago. some are very good and definitive recordings of some very popular hits. but many are poorly mastered and poorly pressed. 'dance club' needs and audiophile sensibilities are not the same.

the 45 reissues are another story entirely. most (but not 100%) are dramatically better than even original pressings in almost every aspect. these are generally mastered from the original master tapes and have the finest level of production. they typically only have 5 to 10 minutes per side and therefore can be cut as hot as needed with widely spaced grooves and wide dynamic range.

i have most of these and they are my most played records, by far. if you hear these 45's on a quality tt you will be hearing the music the best possible way this side of the original master tape.

yes, they are expensive and require more effort. to me, they are easily worth it.