Starting a Classical Vinyl Music Collection

"I tried the Hummingguru  with the same problem.  Same static and pops"

Do you have ANY albums that are quiet to eliminate the cartridge/stylus or phonostage being part of the problem?

If you do have quiet LP's,  then it's back to groove damage. That or there's something else going on not  being discussed. 

I can't be the only one finding quiet used Classical and NOT owning a proper RCM.

table

I tried unopened classical and there a slight static

I should mention that I tried playing some old classical lps and there were a ton of static and pops. Then when i played a new pristine Hemisphere disc it also started to have pops and static. Brought it to a local record store and bought a stylic cleaner. He also cleaned the disc with a cloth and cleaner and now it's 97% better.

I will say that it's unlikely that I'll play dirty old records in the future.

Check out Discogs - HUGE selection of classical vinyl/box sets. I go for near mint or mint if its reasonable. I have purchased box sets of Beethoven symphonies, piano concertos. string quartets, Chamber music. Same with Mozart. Got excellent copies of Bach Brandenburg concertos. I go for EMI, Decca, Angel, RCA Red Label - stuff recorded in the 60's in UK and Europe when they took the time to do a good job. Ask on here for people's favorites - lots of classical music lovers here. I am sure you will get lots of good responses. DG is also good label, as others have mentioned. Depends of course on your taste and the composer. Discogs lets you search by label as well, which I love, especially if its something from the 70's that is out of print. I also found church organ music - go figure. And if you like choirs - Kings college of Cambridge choir is incredible - esp xmas music.  Good luck!

I’d recomend having a look at the better records website. I’m not advising paying those prices, but there is a wealth of knowledge to be gained on what classical pressings sound good and some history behind the recordings. I’ve bought numerous records from there over the years. He, Tom, generally sells the quietest most dynamic pressings of classical recordings. He’s already listened to the records with his team to guarantee this. Also offers money back if not happy. He sometimes reduces the costs on some of the classical stuff, so you can often pay less than 100 for a known quiet and good sounding pressing.

I’ve also gone the ebay/discogs route and have had descent success. Also, thrift stores sometimes have some great classical records, but the lighting is typically not very good, so you must be careful and look closely.

Static can be a problem. Static can cause clicks and pops. I have found static guns completely useless.

I preclean album on the turntable with Last General cleaner with their brush. Then use a dust / static arm (looks like a tonearn: Antistatic Record Cleaning Arm… there are a number of them on the market). the arm cleans and discharges in front of the tone arm. The arm is connected to a ground and discharges the electricity.

I recommend all three Last record cleaning products.