Are scratch LPs part of the game ?

Thanks for your response Davt , I was wondering how it could be accepted as part of the game. I,m with you , I have 40 year old plus LP,s that are almost flawless under bright light. I clean mine right out of the sleeve new or used (and put them in a new mofi sleeve) before I play them on my turntable and always clean(dust) the platter before an lp sits on it and keep the stylus clean. Might seem anul to some or impossible but when you realize how hard they are to find and replace a mint lp its not that hard to be motivated. That and the fact I feel a responsability to respect the person who owned the lp for decades and kept it in mint shape then shipped it on top of that for me to enjoy, to at least do the same. Cheers!

Sunlight does show up flaws and dirt extremely well, hence the saying "in the light of day". However, a cheap floor lamp with a 100 to 150 watt Phillips Natural Light bulb does just as good a job and isn,t restricted to the day shift. I don,t beleive stores use florescent lights for any other reason than they are cheaper to run and use. Cheers!

"Scratches are not inevitable if you develop a sound routine and practice it rigorously. Boring, but effective."
Thats it in a nutshell. Accidents do happen but almost always when I don,t pay attention to what I,m doing and the routine that works. Mapman, why worry about it, simple to keep them in the shape I got them. Tvad I keep my house acceptably clean, replace furnace filters every two months and have the ducts vacuumed once a year. Not for my LP,s but for my childrens and my health. I no longer park my car in the living room so it,s cleanliness is not an issue. I leave my shoes at the door and don,t use them as a turntable weight or stand on my turntable so thats not an issue. As for lint on my suit, the only lint on my suit is in the pockets because I spent all the money on good LP,s !!! Suits, shoes, cars segway to lps ? Just joking Tvad. I read alot of your responses and realise and respect your a knowledgable guy with good advice given in a non condesending manner . Cheers!

I agree with you Tvad to a degree about being fastidious with most aspects of one's life and how they coralate. But you have to also realise for some that balance does not exist. I have a neighbor who does not maintain his property as well as most would, or keep his house as clean as he should or treat his wife as well as he should but his 1969 Z 28 is meticulous. What some lack in the balancing act they justify with making certain aspects absolute priority over anything else. Who,s right is that persons opinion, rite or excuse depending on perception. I certainly do agree for the most part that the creeping malayze we allow in some areas can effect other areas if we let it. By the way , it,s very sunny here today so I,m off to wash and shine my 10 year old car that looks new! Only one way to keep it and anything else I own in great shape. On a side note thanks for the advice you gave me on the Moscode amp. I got to listen to one finally in my system and it is a great amp and great match with the pre-amp. Cheers!

WHAT ! You mean you did not own a pair of Nagaoka Lp mitts to firmly stick those Lp,s in your hands ! And you call yourself fastidious. Shame on you Tvad.

Mt10425.... The lamp is for use at home to verify I have done a thorough job of cleaning them and the solution off. I don,t buy too many used records from dealers. I buy them from several people I have known and trusted for decades who live in Canada , the US and England as well as a freind who's job takes him to Japan a few times a year. The few I have found at a certain Dealer not far from home, he does have a nice bright light right at the till to check them over if its past daylight. He is much funnier than you too! Maybe you should try harder !............. Cheers

Waay too serious ! Did you actually read all I posted for this! Thanks for the compliment ! Never been accussed of that! I laughed loud enough my Daughter asked me whats so funny . I told her someone thinks I,m too serious. Her response, Head Trauma or Crackhead! Cheers!

I said 40 plus year old LP.s that were ALMOST flawless . Of course some come with some minor imperfection and don,t effect play and still can and are enjoyed. The poster stated he is puting medium scratches in them just by handling them. Well I don,t feel that is part of the game. Why then are records graded both visually and play grade. Visual inspections are usually done under a bright light or sunlight. Play grade is the most important but according to what is posted "With use, they will only become more pronounced but still not significant enough to negatively impact the sound with proper handling and care." Thats the point you make yourself that you disagree with in the same breath. Anyone who owns or owned lps has had accidents and dropped a few but the poster stated he was putting upto medium scratches in the lps after a couple weeks by handling them. According to some you feel thats normal. Well if it is there wouldn,t be any early or out print lps worth owning and Audiofeils 7000 plus lp collection would be worthless. The poster does not feel its normal or he would not of asked. They do come with some very minor imperfections but anything after that is a direct result of the user. Isn't that why used lps are graded . There is no such thing as a mint used lp but I and others here have bought them NEAR mint with superfiscial flaws and kept them that way. Cheers

Hi Actusreus, I think your right , its more an interpretation differance. To me a medium scratch is something that would effect play. I'm wondering now that you say your new to vynil and are buying mostly new lps if it is more an issue with the quality of vynil that some are being pressed on. I just never had that much of a noticable differance in the records surface condition and especially that quickly. Do some of the new records seam to mark more than others or is it relatively the same with use ? I admit I have not bought many new Lps compared to used but its more of what I want not being re-issued as of yet. I have bought some classic records re issues and a few of their box sets cut at 45 rpm and a few too expensive but good sounding blues lps but I haven't had any issues with them easily scratching from handling. Other than handling and how their stored and if thats all done properly makes me wonder if the actual quality of vynil used might have something to do with it. I remember in the latter seventies the quality of vynil on a lot of domestic lps was poorer than it was previosly. Thats when I started buying alot of Japanese and German pressings. Cheers