Choosing between Reissue and Original pressings

I think that everyone has missed a critical point in the reissue game. Many tapes from 30-40 years ago and older have degraded to the point that you can run them through a pure tube mastering chain like Tim de Paravicini's and it really won't help a bit. Add to that many masters being lost and the reissue folks are working from thrird and fourth generation safety masters which likewise have degraded.

Much of this stuff is gone for good, due to poor storage and volatile tape formulations and all the wishing in the world is not going to bring it back.

I have many first release and japanese pressings from the late seventies only played once straight to nak cassette back in the day

Most remasters don't hold a handle

In jazz blue note, riverside, prestige and impulse have been great

Classic records is hit or miss
I've bought quadrophenia twice and both were horrific - totally congested mess

The latest beatles remasters are as if you put a wet blanket over the proceedings. People swear by them, but probably haven't heard a uk original, german import, or the 1978 bluebox

It's hit or miss and worse no-fill and odd residues, fingerprints, in the old days it was just crackles from impure vinyl

With some luck it can be a view in an era which will never came back. 50 years later we discover, that the Equipment and Brain created something which is unique:
Atmosphere
The impression to be a part of that recording session. When one or the other reader wants to change the normal way of spending and spending to get different results but not better ones (from the feeling) do yourself a favor:
Buy a 2. Hand Lyra Dorian / Helikon mono cartridge, look for your favorite record in original mono pressing and listen. But you need an Arm with adjustable VTA...
It can give a fascination and sonic pleasure which is special.

Pressings are really a case by case thing in my experience. As such, SH Forum is a great resource to find out about particular pressings. My go-to site for vinyl related questions.

That said, there are some details that can help you make educated decisions.

1) where the LP was pressed (currently IME: Good=QRP, RTI or Pallas;Bad/Inconsistent=United, Rainbo; Rainbo for example pressed the Beatles reissues which there are tons of QC complaints about).

2) Who remastered the record (Safe bets: Hoffman, Gray, Bellman)

3) Limitations of the original pressings (poor vinyl quality, rolled off in the bass, poor pressing plant)

There have been some fabulous reissues lately, that were clearly superior to my early pressings: QRP's Tea For the Tillerman, MoFi's Music From the Big Pink and the Basement Tapes jump to mind.

GMC- we are on the same page. I like your wall of vinyl at home.
Viridian- excellent point. I did touch on it in my earlier post here, but didn't
spell it out as you did. Which may be one reason why mastering engineers
have to make dramatic changes in the sonics? Or is it also catering to a
brighter, 'clearer' sound that people may prefer after getting used to digital?
Part of the death of good sound is complex multitracking, where having all
the musicians in the same room and a sort of bleed through of the acoustic
is lost. That may be why some of the 'audiophile' recordings like D2D sound
good, apart from skipping the tape altogether. (unfortunately, most of the
natively 'audiophile' records leave me cold, musically).
AudioTomb- are you talking about those new Apple reissues on vinyl?