Classic Records vinyl quality is horrible

There. I said it. I bought 2 copies of Miles Davis' Kind Of Blue, Folk Singer by Muddy Waters, and Roy Orbison's All Time Greatest Hits. The 2 former were so noisy they sounded used VG at best. The latter was noisy AND dished. I also bought a sealed copy of Zeppelin's Houses of The Holy, only to find a huge scratch on side 2. This company is pure disappoinent. I can't believe how much they charge for their lp's. Too bad because the music is good. I've never ever had this many problems with any other reissue vinyl. Thanks. I feel better now.

 

Sorry to hear this!

I've bought probably 30 or so Classic titles over the years and never had any problems myself.

 

I would describe the quality control that goes into Classic Records pressings as being unreal, as in amazingly horrible. I don't have a lot of experience buying vinyl but would almost expect major flaws in Classic's vinyl.
Do you feel even better now?

 

Yep. Better now. It's just so sad because they offer a lot of music I like. Glad to hear the other poster hasn't had the same issues. These purchases are all recent so maybe something has changed. The good news is I've never had a problem yet returning these to Acousic Sounds; GREAT customer service.

 

My experience:

The Who: Quadrophenia (200G): Great mastering, very quiet, surface visibly scuffed.
The Who: Tommy (140G): Great mastering, some noise, surface visibly scuffed.
The Who: Who Are You (180G): Great mastering, lots of noise. Surface visibly scuffed.
Mike Oldfield: Tubular Bells (200G): Great mastering, very quiet, surface visibly scuffed.
Jimi Hendrix: Band of Gypsys ("Regular Weight"): Great mastering, silent, surface flawless.

So, a mixed bag to say the least.

 

Agree with James. I know many have had issues but not me.

 

Indeed. I have found though, that it depends on the weight and era. 200g or worst of all, 200g Clarity, are noisy noisy noisy! I haven't experienced warps but the noise is very sad indeed, particularly when they claim their formula is superior to any that came before it. I have a $16 XX album that is dead silent. Thin, flimsy indie rock pressing that is lightyears better than the best offering from Classic (Clarity 45 rpm single sided box sets).

I do have 180g Classic issues from the 90's that are absolutely blissful. Quiet, flat and they are mastered very well. So it seems that over the last decade something happened and the quality went off the scale in the crap department.

 

Classic records were like playing the lottery. I have been lucky and pissed. Only those Zep titles from TheMusic.com brought me out one more time and those were hit and miss.

 

My experience with Classic has been really positive actually. Two bad LPs out of probably 30 in total or thereabouts.

 

I just bought the $39.99 200 gram pressing of "Kind of Blue," and right out of the wrapper the disc was filthy and scuffed. Played like schitt too, even after a deep cleaning. I called Jason at Elusive Disc (where I ordered it from), and he offered to open, inspect, and play-test the replacement before it goes out.

 

OK, I will pile on too. Classic titles are a crap shoot. I've had some luck with the Peter Gabriel 45rpm's and a few Zeppelin titles, but overall the Quality Control is pretty dismal.
This might have something to do with them selling off the company as we knew it.

 

QC when vinyl was pressed at RTI was very good. RTI is a legitimate pressing plant. dconsmack, you are referring to recent purchases, right? The now-in-month-number-seven 'clearance sale'-that-never-ends??

 

Mine have mostly been quiet, but often look like crap. Same with some of my Dylan Sundazed. Bought a German Hendrix SMASH HITS at a record show on Saturday. It is BEAUTIFUL looking. Amazing how a 40 year old LP can survive looking perfect yet today's "new" records look used...

 

I have a bunch of Classic Records titles and they are all top notch.

 

Yeah me too. Maybe we're just lucky.

A lot of the complaints I see listed here against I never encountered with CR (so far) but have with other companies.

Eddie

 

Just wondering how many of these lps were in plain white paper inners?

Seems that many titles ( I don't own any Classic titles) I have bought new recently use these cheap-a$$ inners, and I can usually count on the wax to be scuffed at least a little.

 

Definitely lucky. Check out Audiogon and Audio Asylum just to name two other boards with plenty of major complaints. One guy had to send back his Heifetz Box Set twice!! because of warps so bad he couldn't even mount the disc. Then there were the horrible clicks and pops on the other ones. In the end he just ended up getting his money back. Another guy suffered through two nasty Zepplin sets and decided to keep the second, which ended up being worse than the first, only because it was the last they had and it was that or not have the albums at all. Not sure why he wanted them if they were that bad but to each their own.

Meanwhile, I have plenty of Music Matters and AP releases that are always perfect. Wonder what the problem is with Classic?

 

I only own about 25 of their titles, but all have been good. I've got six of the 45rpm clarity, 200g 1 sided titles and they are all excellent.

 

The aforementioned filthy, scuffed "Kind of Blue" came is a Japanese-style "rice paper" plastic sleeve - which was fairly crumpled! If it weren't for the sticker sealing the outer sleeve, I would've have thought it wasn't a new LP.

Oddly enough, my mono "A Quick One" is perfect.

 

I hate how these companies are producing high quality products in relatively low quantities and they STILL seem to have huge batches of lemons! It reminds me of the Neil Young set from last year. I went through 5 replacements before they finally sent me some normal playing discs.

 

@ Tonepub . Maybe they checked the titles before they send them to you cause they know you write in a magazine.

 

Even back in the 90's, I remember a few problems. I have their 45 rpm set of Blue Trane, the first set that came out 10+ years ago, it arrived with a scratch on side one. I didn't have it changed then because I couldn't hear it and because I already knew that I could very well get something worse as a replacement.

To be fair, most of my Classic records, even recent ones, are great all the way around. I'm bummed that they won't be putting out any more reissues.

My guess is that much of the product being sold now are returns from various dealers.

 

Now I'm REALLY depressed after reading this thread! I only ordered my first Classic LP yesterday which was Neil Young's 'Living With War - In The Beginning' 200G. I WAS expecting something amazing. So if anyone has this could they give me a heads up on what their pressing was like? Hopefully it'll still be a good one....

 

I haven't bought anything from them in years, but when I did, there were no scratches, noises, dished issues or other weird problems listed here. (Except for side two of Selling England By The Pound - side two is slightly off-center. And Nursery Cryme is disappointingly similar in sound to the US Atlantic reissue.)

The first records I purchased released by Classic were those Living Stereo reissues back in 1996. They were, and still are, spectacular. I got great sound for a fraction of what it would cost to get a minty original.

The off-center pressing issues still seem to plague us and I wonder why, in an age of digital exactitude and $800,000 automobiles and smartphones that can tell you what song is playing in your environment and the ability to grow human organs in a laboratory, they still cannot get the hole in the friggin center of the record!

My guess is something has changed over the years and quality may not be what it was. Ironic.

 

In this house, I have a Zep III wherein I heard things I've never heard in 40 years !?!?!? And based on it, my son got a Kind Of Blue that also sounds magnificent. But maybe ? 2 was a crapshoot, and we " won " ?