I've got a multiple copies of just about every Dire Straits lp and I'd say that Mark & his mates were always concerned about sound quality. If you find clean, well preserved copies in the used bins, they'll sound fine in my experience. I've bought the newer Simply Vinyl release of Making Movies, it sounds excellent. Not sure if you only plan to buy new vinyl or used though. Most re-releases of rock music, in spite of the hype, don't sound a whole lot better than the originals in my opinion ( if you find good, clean early pressings.) Often, they just sound different, not better to my ears. I'm lucky though, in that there are many used records available at multiple stores in my vicinity. Bruce Springsteens lp's are usually ok at best, he's never been overly concerned with audio quality. I think my favorite, audiophile wise, is Tunnel of Love. His later, most recent lp's sound absolutely horrid to my ears. But so do the same cd's. His 5 lp live album set is also pretty decent sounding, worth seeking out. Beatles music is still hit or miss on lp to my ears. I think I'd wait till Christmas and see if the new remasters will show up as vinyl releases. In the end though, I buy it for the music first and audiophile concerns secondarily. Personally, the better my vinyl playback becomes, the less substandard recordings bother me. I can listen to 50 year old Angel and RCA mono recordings that don't sound nearly as fulsome and dynamic as modern recordings, but I still get mentally and emotionally transported to the event. Same with recordings from the thirties of the great blues masters, crappy sound but fabulous music. It's obvious we all react to these things differently though.
