Living with popping and crackling

Throw the baby out with the bathwater! This old argument again! Certain stylus profiles and equipment that emphasize pop and crackle (poor tonearms, bright amps, bright speakers) is the problem, and digital is not the answer, nor are filters necessary. Analogue does some things very much better than digital, and sounds more like music while it's at it. I have almost never had a problem with surface noise, except for certain cartridges which were subsequently relegated to the back pile. In fact, for most of the past 15 years I have often gone to the record deck which was playing to make sure I had remembered to lower the tonearm! For the very low evidence of noise which remained in certain cases (certain LPs), once the music starts it disappears, except for severely damaged records which, unfortunately, happens, for LPs as well as CDs. When one goes to a live event, there is crowd noise and we listen trough it. Tube equipment brings its own noise with it. There are artefacts in the recordings. The issue of total silence advocated by the digital crowd (in lieu of focusing on good 'ol music) is simple neurosis and generating and preying on neurosis. While cleaning new records may be necessary, expensive equipment need not be the answer, let's not intimidate those who want to get into the game. A good wet brush such as the D4 Discwasher ($20) will remove most of the crud. In the case of used records bought at bargain prices, cleaning at the sink by hand with distilled water and some soap and alcohol will do the trick, again by hand, at very low cost. This is rarely needed. Later, when one is convinced the whole thing is worthwhile and worthy of a more serious/more effective investment, one can look into more expensive solutions. I myself still hand wash, after listening to record uninterrupted for 35 years, on a variety of high-end and not-so-high-end record playback systems. Which is not to say I won't buy a VPI record cleaner some day!

Johnnantais...Congratulations!! You are one of those who can listen through the noise.

I have a very decent CDP that I enjoy quite a lot. But both of my TT's beat it IMO. My MMF 7 not so much, but my Basis is significantly better and I don't hear much suface noise to speak of. Most times it reminds me of low volume tape hiss which could also be the average tubes I'm using in my phono stage. This is much different than the occasional pop or click.

Anyway, digital is not the answer. It is a compromise, just as vinyl. To rule out either formats is, IMHO, short sighted.

Dan that was much too reasonable. You're not getting in the spirit here.

Your question is "Is there a certain amount of popping and crackling to be expected with almost any lp??". The answer is no, not with any lp but some yes. But with reasonable care and cleaning of records that are in good condition with a good turntable cartridge and arm it should be pretty minimal. I get very very few ticks and pops and I buy a lot of new and used records (some that are 40 years old!). I would not let it deter your decision and youu don't have to go bankrupt either. And vinyl sounds so wonderful.