Tips on Buying Quiet Quality sounding LP's

And so the Telefunken (dull lifless looking even when new)? will be passed by? Telefunken and a few others just ALWAYS look dull. The dull finish in no way is a marker (by itself) of a bad record.
If the LP has dull bands.. where someone played the same cuts 1,000,000 times.. that is a different matter.

Elizabeth,

I think I know what your saying about the Telefunken label and there may be other "less shiny" makes.

Would you say that given a reference Telefunken in good shape for comparison, one in lesser condition still might still be determined based on how it reflects light in comparison to the reference?

BTW, there are certain labels, like Telefunken and many of the commonly mentioned usual suspects, that I associate with high quality recordings in general. In these cases, I will often relax my recording quality standards for visual inspection that I apply in general more in that there is likely greater potential benefit to start with.

Its not what you should look for, its what you should listen for.

Bob

i agree with bob. when buying used vinyl at stores in my area, i can listen to the record with head phones. then i can at least gauge whether there is surface noise.

Speaking of potential groove wear, this is often a result of how many times the LP was played. Look at the amount of wear and small indentations around the center hole, also sleeve and dust jacket condition.