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How Long do LP's last

I am recently returned to the world of audio and have a question. In addition to a nice CD player I added a nice little VPI HW19Jr. turntable to my system. I love the sound of vinyl and find it far more enjoyable to listen to than the CD's, though they are nice too. I have a rather modest LP collection and I am listening so much to vinyl I am concerned that I will wear out some of my records. How long to they last. I use a Dynavector 10x5 set at about 2.0, no problems with tracking. What can one expect. One sollution will be to add several hundred new LP's to the collection, I am working on that. Any other thoughts? How many plays can I expect? thanks.
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bemopti123
303 posts
 
I have LPs that were pressed around 1905, they seem to be physically perfect. Still, guess they have not too much play time. Say that about the latest CDs.....the worst annoyance of CD is in their fragility. Skip tracking etc. Though CDs are very convenient.
jphii
485 posts
 
I think that after you play them once, you should send them all to me. The quality goes downhill very quickly, and I don't mind listening to sub-par lps.
sdatch
204 posts
 
And hey, that's a lot longer than we can expect a lot of digital media to last. I have at least 2 CDs from the late 80s that have completely oxidized. Maybe I should be backing my hard drive up to LP :)... In all serious, a few years ago one of the Comp. Sci. journals I subscribe to actually listed the lifespan of storage media, and included vinyl. I can't recall the exact lifespan, but I think it was 50-100 years, depending on wear and tear. CD ROM was around 5-20 years. Paper naturally had the longest lifespan (500 years), but we can't very well listen to paper. So score one for vinyl.
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albertporter
4,949 posts
 
I have also treated most of my LP's with LAST, and have been very pleased with the long-term results. I don't know that there is a magic number for how many times an LP can be played before audible signs of deterioration occur, but based on my experience, I think several hundred times is a reasonable guess

Sdcampbell, I too use Last. I have several hundred LP's that were treated many years ago and they still play as new.

This afternoon I listened to an original Decca a friend bought in Europe. It was from the 1950's, and the performance and sound were both breathtaking. Amazing that anything can remain viable, still providing excellence nearly half a century after it was manufactured.
surfgod
229 posts
 
I have read somewere that polyvinyl chloride can last 100 years. After that, who cares.
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