The Audio Guru: How Does Record Weight Impact Sound Quality?

Vinylmnky's latest service to our Tribe is partnering up with Barry Thornton, an Audio guru to answer all of your hardware, vinyl, and audio questions - further enlightening us on how your music listening experience works and can get even better!

Barry Thornton, owner of AustinAudioWorks.com, is an experienced audiophile who has designed over 70 hi-fi products, taught psycho-acoustics, designed recording studios and performance venues, recorded records, has 30+ patents, has always been in love with vinyl, and always searching for the eargasm - that moment when the music comes alive. Barry has a long list of credits that you can find on his website, but most importantly he has lived and helped define the hi-fi era.

The latest question answered by the Audio Guru is:

Does record weight impact the sound?

o The question we have before us today is “does a thicker album have better sound?” Well first off, standard weight of a vinyl record is typically around 110g and can get up to 200g for audiophile records. The groove itself is a consistent few hundred microns deep however, so it doesn’t matter how thick the album is, the groove can only cut so deep. The weight only really matters when it comes to warpage. A thinner album is more likely to warp, which is never good. Thicker or “heavier” weights of vinyl tend to lay flatter and have a cleaner sound. The real audiophile-ism of the record comes from the mastering process and the speed of the record and not from the thickness, For example, a 45RPM record will have a much higher fidelity than a 33 1/3 RPM record. So the answer to the question is… maybe but not likely. Sorry to be so vague but this is one of those questions where there is support from both sides of the aisle.

Thank you for your question!

Barry is here to help the Tribe bolster their listening experience in small, simple, and fun bites. Go ahead, give him your best.