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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!
heilbron

Showing 3 responses by fleschler

fleschler
2,041 posts
 
Okay, Whart is 100% correct.  Inna is wrong!   Sorry, the vinyl record, if of good quality or near 100% virgin vinyl, is an elastic medium.  Once played, it requires about 24 hour rest period prior to returning to it's original shape.  Hence, I have LPs that I have played 100+ times which sound as good (or better with upgraded room and electronics) as long as I treat the record with care. 

I have 28,500 LPs.  The last three collections I purchased include120 LPs from a guy who only bought 25¢ to $1 LPs, often damaged, always used, 2500 LPs from a guy who took great care of his LPs but also often purchased used/abused LPs, and 800 LPs from a guy (major record/CD producer) who had 200,000+ LPs but didn't discern condition (sometimes perfect, sometimes dreadful, mostly used).  So, buying collections or parts thereof are not so full proof.   Oh yes 3 years ago I purchased an opera & classical LP collection of 1200 LPs which were in mint condition.  The owner was fastidious and did not play them very often.  That's the quality of a collection everyone wants.

Also, cleanliness of the stylus, condition of the stylus and turntable set up is paramount to maintaining one's collection.  
fleschler
2,041 posts
 
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
2,041 posts
 
@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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