How long should vinyl last?

Vinyl can last for a long, long time and still sound great given proper care. My experience matches that of Jependleton and Rshak. I have records that are 20 and more years old, have been played dozens of times, and that still have minimal surface noise and full frequency response for playback. I've also purchased many used records that look well used based on the condition of their record jackets but which also play beautifully. As pointed out, the key to this longevity is cleaning the record well, storing it well (including keeping it in its sleeve and storing it so dust does not enter), not playing it when dirty or dusty, and not playing it on an improperly set-up turntable.

None of this applies to records manufactured from inferior or recycled vinyl. You can't do anything about getting a record made from inferior vinyl, and neither can you do anything to protect such a record from developing noise quickly.

One other factor in your experience of your LPs over time is your turntable/tonearm/cartridge combination. Some turntable combinations simply are much more effective in capturing and replaying the music that is on your records, and doing so with a more silent background.

And a final factor is going to be your listening priorities. For me, a few ticks here and there are simply part of the LP medium and I'm willing to listen through that - to tune it out - and to focus on the musical values that vinyl delivers that are more important to me.

Will last longer than cd's so not a concern.

I have records well over 40 years old, I have always cleaned them with a Disc Washer,and before you nay say, it's done an excellent job. I now have (2) Keith Monks machines and the difference is awe inspiring. The VTL and like are not on the same level.

So with that, a good piece will last darn near forever, but-- a common paractice was to regrind the discs, and with some companies, labels and all, hence the early rise of pops and clicks, once their molded in, theres nothing you can do.

Older vinyl has less of this, the mid 70-90 vinyl is more prone to this, with the Greed factor applied.

Still the older vinyl if MIXED well, and a lot of it wasn't still kills SACD, and I mean KILLS, however I find SACD enjoyable and listenable, the old CD's were only for the car, or if there was no vinyl available.

Take care of your records and they'll take care of you.

A decent cartridge can be had for in the 125-250 range street price, which translates to 350-800 retail.

People get carried away with super vinyl rigs but still, the most important part is the cartridge, then the tone arm, and then the table, although anyone not up to competance will drag the others down. An old used Sota with a decent Sumiko arm and even the lowly Ortofon X5MC is still miles ahead of CD and you can pick those up used for less than a decent Arcam deck.

Dig out those records and clean em up.

Hey side note: Vinyl cleaning recipies.

loontoon

As noted in earlier responses, vinyl can and does last a long time. One thing to be wary of is vinyl's "memory" effect. Dragging a diamond thru the vinyl grooves distorts them slightly during playback. You need to allow enough time between plays for the grooves to "reset" back to their original configuration. Instant replays of a track are not good for the grooves. Your proposal to play the record only once a week more than satisifes that condition.

One manufacturer whose products are extremely gentle on vinyl, Bang & Olufsen, gets slammed regularly in these forums. Too bad, because B&O tonearms have been optimized for their cartridges and present the lowest effective tip mass to the vinyl of *any* turntables out there. It is virtually impossible to scratch a record with a B&O turntable, can you say that about any other rig?

-RW-

I have vinyl in my collection dating back to the 40's. Cleaning the album before playing and keeping it in a clean flat sleeve
has been my secret. I manually cleaned, then later began using a wet, vaccum record cleaning machine. All of my favorites have both been played many, many times they all still sound great. Take care of the records and they will always take care of your listening needs and wants.