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new vs. used vinyl, pops and clicks.

After 8 or so years of audiophilia I am finally getting my first decent turntable. I of course had one when I was younger and bought a lot of records then that I still have and want to play. I ended up getting the Whest Phono stage and a Nottingham Horizon with RB 250 arm and Dynavector 10x5 cart. I am also getting a VPI 16.5. If I really like it I'll probably move into a better table and cart.

I was over at a friends who has a table (VPI 19something mk 3?) and plenty of records and was intrigued and sometimes disturbed at the surface noise on some of the records. Question is, how common is it to buy used vinyl and be able to make it pretty much clean and pop free sounding? He didn't have a wet machine and uses a carbon fibre brush, as well as meticulous care of his records. I brought along a new record I purchased for my impending delivery of my setup and it was pretty darn quiet, but found most of the records he played to have quite a lot of pops and clicks. I am really hoping to find a lot of used vinyl to build up my collection, but a little concerned after hearing how noisy some of my friends records sounded. I know my collection has got to be filthy compared to his. Any advise or comments are appreciated.
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4yanx
1,576 posts
 
Yes, the differentiation between damage and filth would seem obvious, but it is a real consideration. Those indicating that there is nothing that can be done about groove damage are correct, no amount of cleaning can reverse careless treatment or scratches. On the other hand, it is amazing how much better an otherwise fine, but dirty, record sounds after cleaning. Sad are the time when one stumbles across a seeming gem, only to clean it up and find there is groove damage.

Funny though, and it may seem heretical to some, but my son was down from college last week and I was playing a couple of old jazz favorites that have a pop or two and some “fuzzys” between tracks. I apologized that I didn’t have a better copy and he said that he often finds that part of the charm of older records and it didn’t bother him in the least. A romantic notion, perhaps, but he and I still enjoyed listening VERY much!
justin_time
100 posts
 
4Yanx, I enjoyed your story very much.

It is interesting that some of us can happily listen to the music on LPs without being the least bothered by the noise.

Clicks and pops drive me nuts. So I religiously clean my records. But I must say that given the choice between less noise and less music on CD and more noise and more music on LP, I'll chose LP.

One day will come when we'll get less noise and more music.
john_tracy
341 posts
 
During the first oil crisis in the 1970's, many record companies upped the recycled vinyl content of their records. To add insult to injury, they didn't even bother to remove or punch out the paper labels. I remember that at the time someone I knew at Discwasher told me that they had examined some records with an electron microscope and actually saw paper fibers sticking out of the groove walls. Needless to say, no amount of cleaning will ever remove this source of noise from a record.
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