Why is some vinyl noisy?


I'm listening to a copy of "This Is The Moody Blues", a very fine record store find, and I'm amazed at how noisy the vinyl sounds compared to it's physical condition.

The record is nice and flat, looks great in bright light, heavyweight. It's very clean as it's just been through my VPI 16.5 cleaner with two fluid baths. The rig it's playing on is plenty good enough to get the best from this record: VPI Scoutmaster, Sumiko Blackbird, McCormack & Krell downstream.

Yet, this is a noisy, clicky, poppy ride. I don't get it. Is some vinyl just plain noisy, or is some surface damage too hard to detect? By the same token, an ancient, clearly scuffed RCA Living Stereo recording of Van Cliburn just sounds terrific.
forddonald

Showing 1 response by oilmanmojo

I have a jefferson airplane album (Bark)that exhibits similar noisy background sound. It is on the grunt label and i have cleaned it multiple times. I finally found a very clean, unused pressing and aargh, it sounded just like the other slightly worn copy. On the other hand,