Maybe you can hear what other human brings can’t hear.
Another reason may be your re-tipped cartridge.
Another reason may be your re-tipped cartridge.
The Lifespan of an LP?
How many times can one play a new vinyl lp before the sound noticeably degrades? For the purpose of the exercise, assume one takes decent care of the record and has a properly set up and maintained, good quality deck and stylus. My system has been taking quantum leaps in quality over the last three years and I find myself buying more mint and near-mint vintage records on Discogs and audiophile remastered records from MoFi etc. Thanks!
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Records will outlive us. Don’t worry about them not lasting unless you don’t put them away after playing and just stack them amongst drinks and cigarettes. I don’t know of any such behavior personally😆 I have played records with scratches on my old Denon DP62L just to hear the music and despite the crackles, they don’t sound bad. I won’t play them on my main rig due to being OCD about wear on my pricier cartridges. I have those 78rpm shellac’s that I play on my Victrola and those are from the 1930s and 1940s. |
chakster I agree, only deep cleaning once and then use a carbon fiber brush. My room is not very dusty and no animals invade it. audioquest4life I have 7000 78s and play them on a VPI 19-4/Ultracraft 400/Grado at 4 grams. I don't notice any wear. I have about 150 vinyl 78s which would share wear/noise more easily. I don't recommend a Victrola playing except for fun as they will wear out 78s prematurely. I just bought a Reader's Digest Scheherazade classical LP set which has bad vinyl in mint condition (great Living Stereo performances and sound). Despite the noise, with a higher end analog setup and great electronics/cabling, the noise is about 20% while the music is 80%. In other systems it was so bad it was 50/50 and virtually unlistenable. Now the noise is most present between tracks and at very quiet moments. A great $15 find. |
@fleschler, Nice 78rpm collection. I think I have roughly 500. Bought some boxes filled with 78s and many were given to me while living in Europe. I am estimating that my normal LP collection is about 8500 and growing. Have a bedroom dedicated to the library. Yes, I certainly agree, that with a higher resolution system one is apt to experience musical bliss, despite a few minor scratches. I learned through varied experiences that better tonearms due in fact help with damping scratches. Combined with your high resolution system, and voila, it’s magic. |
@audioquest4life Thank you very much. Many of my post 1925 78s of jazz/pop and vocals are especially lifelike and dynamic as they were the original direct to disc records. Many people (non-audiophiles) tell me that they enjoy listening to records with pops and clicks because it sounds real to them. Then they visit my listening room and find out differently, that the silent surface LPs are really better. I too have a dedicated music storage room in my new home but recent acquisitions have required a Tuff-shed in the backyard for 5,000 LPs and 1,000 78s I haven't heard yet (mostly classical and opera & duplicates). I keep my 7,000 CDs in steel drawer cabinets made by http://www.can-am.ca/ 18,000 LPs and 6,000 78s are in custom built-in wall cabinets in the storage room. In my previous home, the listening room was 600 sq.ft. and I had similar cabinets lining the walls 8' high. Much better separating the listening room and storage room. |
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