Battle hardened vinyl, should I just give em up?

afterburnt

I have some really well used albums that really have excessive snap crackle and pop (no skips). It is great to hear them, they sound just like they did in the 70's on bad equipment. Am I going to ruin my stylus playing them?

Nightfall

I don't think bad vinyl ruins good needles but bad or misaligned needles can ruin good vinyl.

afterburnt

Does playing a mono album and measuring left and right channels with an SPL indicate how good the cartridge is aligned? I followed the instructions according to the Geo disk that Voltz sent me and I think it is ok.

aprazer402

Yes, you can prematurely wear a stylus playing records in poor condition!
Show us some photos, if you can of how bad they are. If they sound that bad, how can you possibly enjoy them? If they are popular, most can be easily replaced for less than $10.00, so why risk the damage. Unless perchance you have something very rare or valuable, which you shouldn't be playing often anyway.

Nightfall

aprazer402 wrote: »

Yes, you can prematurely wear a stylus playing records in poor condition!

Good to know. Is it significant?

aprazer402

To clarify, are we looking at two different issues here? 1. Records in poor physical condition, but otherwise clean. 2. Very dirty, moldy, cruddy records. Playing a #1 should not harm a stylus significantly, however, if badly scratched, gouged... I would not risk an expensive cartridge playing one. Have a cheaper cartridge on another table for those records that are marginal. For a #2, a dirty, yucky record, it will be like dragging a cartridge through sand and gunk, I would think this is where the most stylus damage would occur. Keep your records clean, pitch the real trashy ones or use a second table with cheaper cartridge.

afterburnt

aprazer402 wrote: »

To clarify, are we looking at two different issues here? 1. Records in poor physical condition, but otherwise clean. 2. Very dirty, moldy, cruddy records. Playing a #1 should not harm a stylus significantly, however, if badly scratched, gouged... I would not risk an expensive cartridge playing one. Have a cheaper cartridge on another table for those records that are marginal. For a #2, a dirty, yucky record, it will be like dragging a cartridge through sand and gunk, I would think this is where the most stylus damage would occur. Keep your records clean, pitch the real trashy ones or use a second table with cheaper cartridge.

Damn you Polkies! I already need a second TT? Seriously some of my LP's have more noise than others but they are not so horrible that they are unlistenable, Sort of like a decent woman with a past (nothing a little alum won't fix lmao). At anyrate I am not playing them so much that I am worried, they have just been rode hard and put up wet. Just like a decent woman with a past. I crack me up sometimes!

[Deleted User]

If they are popular, they can be replaced for a dollar

"I crack me up sometimes!" You may be the funniest guy you know!

aprazer402 wrote: »

Yes, you can prematurely wear a stylus playing records in poor condition!
Show us some photos, if you can of how bad they are. If they sound that bad, how can you possibly enjoy them? If they are popular, most can be easily replaced for less than $10.00, so why risk the damage. Unless perchance you have something very rare or valuable, which you shouldn't be playing often anyway.

cvc

Some people will disagree but please try this.. It absolutely works.. Of course it depends on the condition of your lps but you will hear a difference for sure.. As a matter of fact I just did this today to some of my new used lp purchases that I made yesterday.. I was at a local record swap meet and I played a new Police record and a The Cars record.. The Police record was like rice Krispies between songs.. Surprisingly bad considering how clean the record looked.. Then I looked at my stylus with a magnifying glass and it was all gunked up with dirt etc.. WTF!.. Never saw so much crap before.. I used my magic eraser to clean it off and after side 2 of the Police the same thing.. More crap!.. I then played side 1 of The Cars and it sounded great but again the stylus was gunked up so bad I could see it with the naked eye.. Wow!

So I realized this one vendor must have sprayed the records with Windex or something.. They're super clean but the grooves are full of it.. So I washed them with Dawn soap and warm water.. Waited a few hours and the Police record is incredibly quiet now.. Night and day difference!.. Not only that but the needle had no debris on it after playing it.. Do this and get it suds up well for best results.. Also, I was afraid of the label being damaged but none of my records have and I just run the water all over the record.. In other words, the label gets soaked but they don't get damaged.. My Ortofon Red is much happier now..

Do this then tell us what your results are..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtdIp8ad_GQ

afterburnt

i want to try Dawn in my Spin Clean and probably run it through a pure water rinse after. I got some fairly dirty water with the spin clean solution but i doubt it is as aggressive as Dawn.

cvc

Jeez man.. Just pick a scratchy record and do what's in the video above.. Suds it up for 5 minutes on each side all over the record real good (no suds on label but water is fine) then sit to dry for 2 hours then play it.. Not sure what you're waiting for..

gudnoyez

Battle hardened LP'S from your younger years should be trashed don't put that nice red Ortofon through it. You could try the Dawn soap method if they play some what better after a through cleaning, then that Teac of yours has a USB transfer it to your computer get a program that allows you to edit out or somewhat eliminate the noise then trash them.

afterburnt

Man that is gonna be hard to do. fortunately this is my last collection so most of it is not so bad. I got some Doors that have obviously been to Woodstock and back though lol

[Deleted User]

The Doors were supposed to be at Woodstock weren't they?
The only Doors song I knew in 1969 was 'light my fire.'

oh, and I don't like the way that dude handles his vinyl.
Alcohol is the best thing for finger prints. Drink enough
and you don't care.

classic carl

If you are going to use tap water to clean your records, you should rinse with distilled water thoroughly afterward. Tap water leaves mineral residue if allowed to dry. I use a vacuum RCM but always use distilled water from a spray bottle as the record is being vacuumed.