What Does 180 Gram Vinyl Mean

The words 180 gram vinyl have been the cause for many misunderstandings and debate among the audiophile and vinyl records community.

What does 180 gram vinyl mean.

These audiophile grade albums demand high prices at record stores. A phonograph record also known as a gramophone record especially in british english or simply a record is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed modulated spiral groove. Many new vinyl record releases tout their selling feature of being pressed on 180 gram vinyl. These are poorly mastered vinyl pressings often sourced from a cd or even poor digital sources.

This ensured consistency in the quality of the lps and 45s made during this period. At first the discs were commonly made from shellac with earlier records having a fine abrasive. The quality of the sound derives from the vinyl compound as opposed to the weight of the disc. The words 180 gram vinyl have been the cause for many misunderstandings and debate among the audiophile and vinyl records community.

The groove usually starts near the periphery and ends near the center of the disc. Are 180 gram vinyl records inherently better than standard pressings. In fact a great many records sold with the 180 gram hype stickers are often inferior scorpio pressings. Scorpio pressings often have the 180 gram sticker on the shrinkwrap.

Unnecessarily so i would say there is nothing magical about heavyweight vinyl and certainly some myths float over those shiny 180g stickers on the record covers but that doesn t mean there are no benefits from pressing 180g or even 200g vinyl lp s. Just because it s on wax it doesn t always mean that it will sound better. Sure 180g lps ride more smoothly on a turntable thanks to their weight but the benefits end there. In other words 180 gram vinyl isn t any indication of a better sounding record.

We explain the benefits of 180 gram vinyl to see if they are worth the premium price.