How many plays can you get out of a good record?
I haven't seen this question posed in the Audiogon forums, but I have seen many answers on generic audio sites, that say a record can be expected to last for "hundreds" of plays before any sonic degradation is noted, if well cared for.
I'm wondering if they might last even longer with modern audiophile styli / styluses, which track at around 1.8 grams. Does anyone have any real experience or knowledge about the longevity of records in such a scenario? (If records only last 100-200 plays before some degradation, then this means that playing a record once a week could be at least partially deteriorated in two to four years, which is a real shame.)
It's not a question of tracking weight, it's a question of mistracking. Too light is as bad for records as too heavy. I did wear out a copy of Blonde on Blonde in 1966 using my father's old Collaro player that must have been tracking at about 5g. That was the design weight. The whole thing started sounding like mush. I guess there must have been swarf. I bought another one and my own turntable. |
drbond, Is your cartridge set up correctly? Do you clean the stylus tip after every play? Is the record stored properly? Do you have an adequate record cleaning procedure? Are you a smoker? Do you handle your records without touching the groove area? You say "a good record", but what was the initial quality of the pressing? Do you repeat play or allow a reasonable time interval between plays? Do you have a clean, relatively dust-free environment? With all that I can only say that I have LPs purchased 60 years ago that are still enjoyable and distortion free to listen to. But as any wear may have occurred my hearing resolution has declined, so I can't offer a number. ;^) |
In 2012 I compared a sealed 1971 Howlin Wolf to another original copy that had been played on/off since 1971 (didn't own a TT from 1986-2000). They both sounded the same (good). Found the sealed copy @ my mother's house when she was selling it in 2011. Along with the sealed LP I also found 2 factory matched pairs of Mullard XF2 EL34's, a stack of used RCA 12at7 5-packs (pulls from my old Fender amps) and a small glass vile containing 3 squares of windowpane (the windowpane had turned from translucent to black over a 40 year period). I gave the windowpane to a neighbor that I had grown up with and tossed the 12at7's after bringing them back to CA and testing them (they all had one poorly testing section). DeKay |
I have 28,500 LPs. Those purchased new and of good quality vinyl over 50+ years should sound as good as when new, I've used good (now great) quality equipment (Dynavectors, Lyra and Benz cartridges for 45 years, VPI turntables for 40 years, SME IV arm for over 33 years). @Inna is correct, LPs/vinyl require 24 hours to 100% recover from playing. I've played some records 100-200 times and they sound pristine (and wonderful). |
