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Oh no, there's metal in your records!

IMO, this is completely out of left field. But, here’s the story. On Saturday, there was a "seminar" at the local stereo shop about why you should listen to high quality records. It turned out to be a 3 hour commercial for this dude who wants to market his services as a "HQ record shopper" of sorts. For a mere $240, you get an annual subscription to his services. You pick a title, and he will find the "best available" version of the record... so you can buy it. And, when he brings it to you, he’ll bring other similar records for you to buy. Most of these records are in the $50 to $100 range, so this "service" clearly not for me. Plus, I kind of like the hunt for a gem.

Anyway, the point of the post: One thing he said is that some older vinyl has metallic content embedded in the vinyl, and that it can interact with your cartridge’s magnet, causing distortion. Therefore, you should only buy the newest, most pristine (hence most expensive) vinyl records... from him, of course. I didn’t want to challenge him on the spot in front of others, but in my mind I’m thinking this is the most ridiculous claim I’ve ever heard. Even more ridiculous than gems you place on your speakers to change the way they sound... but, I digress. I understand he wants to show the true value of his "service"... but, seriously? Interesting business idea... but metal in the vinyl?

Just for fun, I did a little bit of google searching for metal in vinyl, and I found links to Metallica and Whitesnake records, but no stories about the metal embedded in the vinyl. So, can you prove me wrong, or just remind me that I’m not all that gullible. Please! Anyone have any information about such a wild claim?
128x128soundermn
ikecarumba
11 posts
 
Old 78 rpm discs were made of shellac (dried insect resin aka lacquer) mixed with things like carbon black, cotton floc, limestone, rottenstone, barytes, slate, quartz, and pumice.

From Wikipedia: Exact formulas for this compound varied by manufacturer and over the course of time, but it was typically composed of about one-third shellac and about two-thirds mineral filler, which meant finely pulverized rock, usually slate and limestone, with an admixture of cotton fibers to add tensile strength and carbon black for color (without this, it tended to be a "dirty" gray or brown color that most record companies considered unattractive).

Others claim the main filler used in 78s was carborundum, aka silicon carbide an extremely hard industrial abrasive.

Whatever the filler is it grinds away steel needles pretty quick. RCA recommended changing to a new needle after playing two sides.
moonglum
619 posts
 
Lewm,
Are you suggesting that the widespread and longstanding concerns over non-virgin vinyl are merely an Urban Myth?
Kind regards,
nandric's avatar
nandric
4,086 posts
 

There are all kinds of particles neither of them should be

in the groove nor on the stylus.

soundermn's avatar
soundermn OP
344 posts
 
I don't believe that "hunks" of vinyl are randomly ground off the record and then stick to my cantilever.  If that were the case, over time, the cantilever would become larger and the records would be smooth and make no sound.  

I think the crap you see stuck to the cantilever is more likely dust and particles that were attracted to the album by static, and are now attracted to the stylus by static. 
lewm
13,362 posts
 
Moon, I guess I am suggesting that I don't know and don't much care about non-virgin vinyl.  I would not characterize the question as a "concern" that is "widespread and longstanding".  I would, however, be interested to know if anyone has a solid basis for believing that LPs contain magnetizable materials, just out of curiosity.  No one here seems to have such evidence.
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