It is an unreasonable expectation that lps of several decades vintage are going to sound pristinely quiet, regardless of cleaning machine. Many of these were manufactured with inferior vinyl in the first place, as the energy crisis and other factors led to vinyl recycling. And when lp was out of favor people stored them in attics, basement, garages, with no climate control. Auditioning for noise before hand usually isn’t feasible, so it’s a crap shoot.
New lps? Ridiculously expensive, imho, and many of them use a digital mastering stage. They might sound good but if any digital stage is used, then whatever theoretical advantage that vinyl has by maintaining an analog wave form is lost. Like your virginity, once lost, it can’t be regained. And if you are going to listen to a digital file, why embed it in a slab of petroleum, and then extract with a needle slashing its way through the groove which it degrades with each playing? With even careful maintenance, eventually your new expensive lps will start acquiring surface noise due to groove damage and other factors. If you are going to play a digital file, use digital equipment.
If you have a low tolerance for surface noise, analog isn’t for you. I think you would be happier, OP, with a good digital setup. I reserve vinyl for recordings that can’t be obtained digitally, or that were poorly transferred from analog to digital.It is possible to achieve excellent sound either way. The music is what counts most; the technology is a means to an end, and not an end it itself.
