RCA Dynaflex vinyl - really that bad?

I love My Maria!

 

Dynaflex gets a bad rap. Not bad at all. Maybe a bit noisier than UK RCA vinyl from the same era, but certainly less noisy than yellow-label Epic vinyl from the late 60s.

 

My Dynaflex Transformer by Lou Reed sounds fantastic. I have no problem with Dynaflex. I have a problem with no-fill and/or off centre pressings. Ive seen no evidence of either of these on my Dynafles vinyl, but they seems to inflict a lot of recent vinyl pressings

 

I have most of the 70s Reed albums on Dynaflex and they all sound good to great, especially Sally Can't Dane and Rock N Roll Animal.

 

...some "Kinks" still play very well today....

 

Yes they were.

 

Immediate like on release - very quiet surface - observed no wear issues

 

I've heard - and experienced - more pressing issues with 180g vinyl than Dynaflex.

 

We had a lot of Motown Lp's turn up as Dynagrooves from the RCA pressing plant.....on the West Coast

 

The few Dynaflex albums I have all sound fine after all these years. Counter-intuitive, yes, but I think they sound at least as good and often time better than other US presses of the time. UAs, sheesh were they noisy, Capitol not that great either...

 

Ah yes, you're right.

 

They're probably more consistent than 180 gram because they can squeeze the hell out of them to make sure there's no non-fill.

 

My recollection was that severe warpage was a definite problem with Dynaflex.

 

The vinyl on Elvis at Madison Square Garden was so thin it folded when you took it out of the sleeve.

 

I always thought Guess Who albums sounded great on it. I was an immediate fan of Nilsson Schmillson when it was first released, so I am thinking RCA was on to something. Back then I hadn't a clue what Dynaflex meant and didn't really care, although I did notice that the albums had a different sheen and weight to them.
I can't imagine one warping unless stored improperly, I suppose being in a hot car a dynflex might warp easier than another labels simply because being as there is less plastic it would probably get hotter faster and change shape easier, but I never had it happen.
My old Nilsson albums seem to have held up just fine.

 

I've had no issues with any of the Dynaflex LPs in my collection. The best of the bunch (as mentioned by others) is Nilsson Schmilsson - a fantastic sounding record!

 

I have a lot of Dynaflex that sounds great. As far as warpage...I have plenty of warped 180gm records that I've seen.

 

You can kind of get the "wiggly saw" noise sometimes. Re: Dynaflex - I have a copy of "Transformer" that sounds great. Sometimes there's a little more warping than I'd like, but most SOUND decent at least.

 

Not bad, as long as you can't hear the music from the other side bleed through when playing one of them.

 

I recall the flexibility of the album...I was not a fan.

 

I laughed at them back in the day, kinda' felt ripped off. I no longer laugh at them. I have Bowie/Reed/Guess Who/Nillson, etc., really enjoy the sound.Most are quiet, all are flat.

 

I've used Brian Augers's Oblivion Expresses's "Closer To It " as a reference LP for ages. It was originally on Dynaflex and sounds great. I've owned several early pressings and never had a problem sonically or with playability. Sadly I've never gotten my hands on an original UK pressing.
I used to think Dynaflex pressings were questionable years ago, but I've learned that most sound fine. Some other examples, Waylon Jenning's original releases on Dynaflex from this period sound uniformly excellent.

 

I had John Denver's Poems Prayers and promises and it sounded terrible...

 

I've never differentiated between dynaflex/dynagroove... if this isn't too off-topic I'd like to ask

1) What's the major difference between the two?
2) And what years were each in production?

My experience is limited... I've fairly recently begun collecting RCA Classical, and taking advice from this forum don't by anything from the dynagroove/dynaflex period. But as far as rock goes, where I'm more knowledgable, I don't get so hung up on things like that and just get albums from bands I like! So just the other day noticed a David Bowie LP I wished to play was on dynagroove/dynaflex (can't remember now as I've never consciously differentiated), and I prepared myself to be disappointed SQ wise. But I wasn't.

 

Been buying them since they came out and NEVER had any problems with them more than any other normal weight pressings. They always sounder very good too !