The Lifespan of an LP?

@lewm

ROFLOL!

@tablejockey

I doubt someone has played an LP to it’s death to find out

You haven’t seen my 1st press Zeppelin & Sabbath albums. Many took care of their albums in the 60’s & 70’s but we had cheap TT’s with a heavy tracking weight. Line Contact stylus MAY wake them back up. I don’t know. I fell for "Perfect Sound Forever" hype in the 80’s and purged the system. Oh well. i have 4k to play now but I’ll never know about those albums.

@gpgr4blu

Is it because a line contact stylus hits a different point

When I got back into vinyl, (1990’s) I purchased about 3.5K used albums. I got pretty good a knowing Goldmine and knowing what an album sounded. I don’t play anything under VG+. But anyway, I purchased about 5 or 10 from one guy who had taken very good care of them and the looked very good, most NM. I got them home and had very bad surface noise that would not clean out. I had a pretty good setup then. VPI & Dyna 20 XL (I think) but still surface noise. Wish I could remember which they were now that I have a Zyx with LC stylus. BTW, 1st thing I noticed was better bass, I suspect where it was digging deeper. Cartridge before was a Benz Ebony L. No slouch, but not LC.

Life span of a record is longer than your life. 

artemus-

I know what you're talking about. My post should have mentioned those of us who owned the "all in one", Crosley and Close and Plays did shorten LP lifespan. I hammered quite few in my youth.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYysz-ifznI

Surprisingly, some LP's with visible groove wear and scuffs clean up well and sound good.
Must be the fact those LP's are bring played for the first time with a stylus contacting the surface an inexpensive spherical normally misses?

Don’t know but safe to say they only get worse over time not better. 

Thank you for sharing your experience and research. I have discovered that wear is not always evident in a visual inspection. I have purchased records from the sixties and seventies that are stated by the seller to be  “NM”.  They look really great — shiny, black, no scratches etc. But they don’t all play the way they look. Some have excessive surface noise or pops. When this happens  I do not assume that  the seller has deliberately misstated the condition. Instead, I assume that the seller cleaned and made a visual inspection before listing, without actually playing it. So now, especially with older records, I eiher try to buy from a bricks and mortar vintage store that lets you play before buying and only buy online if the seller in the listing provides notes that clearly indicate that he/she has played it and that it plays NM, as well as looking NM. Is this a common experience?