What's wrong with classical music on vinyl?

Most all my classical lps are dynamic. You need to learn to buy the best labels. My collection is awesome sounding. Do a search on the subject. I almost can't believe your post. Are you trolling? Maybe?

Hi, Michael. Some of what you're experiencing may come from the fact that most pop music has very little dynamic range. All of the non-classical music you list is very limited in dynamic range and as a result can be mastered onto LP at a much higher average level than most classical music.

At the same time, I simply don't experience what you describe with the classical music LPs I've bought used over the years, so I'm having trouble relating to your experience. As you may recall, most of my collection is comprised of classical music LPs. I have been reasonably selective in the quality of the LPs I buy used, but I've definitely not focused on collecting just special pressings. Most of my collection are standard pressings from labels such as: Archiv, Argo, ASV, BIS, CRD, EMI, Erato, Harmonia Mundi, Hungaraton, Hyperion, London, l'Oiseau Lyre, Lyrita, Nonesuch, Philips, RCA, Supraphon, Telefunken.

One's turntable/tonearm/cartridge will make a big difference in the background silence of any LPs, but for many years I used a VPI HW-19 and still didn't experience what you describe to any similar extent. And, I perhaps am more inurred to the extraneous sounds that come from vinyl playback and simply listen through it without paying it any attention. If I listened to CD, I might be more sensitive to the issue you raise.
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Hi Rushton, thanks for your input, and for confirming one of my suspicions about recording volumes (happens on CD's, too). As you may recall, I had similar problems a couple years ago with my Music Hall MMF-5. I now have a Project RM-6 which is a great turntable for the price, considerably better than the Music Hall and Technics I was using earlier. I have it mated with a Goldring Electra cartridge and a Parasound zPhono preamp.

And yet few of my classical recordings are actually listenable. I have become more tolerant of occasional pops and clicks, but when the softer passages are difficult to ear through the noise, or the high-energy dynamics are limited by distortion, this becomes very frustrating. I believe it's largely record-related, because there are a few records that don't have the distortion.

On the other hand, I have a couple of Alison Krauss' 180g audiophile LP's that sound amazing on my system. A couple of my friends have heard it and literally wouldn't believe that the sound was coming from vinyl. But if I put any one of my four copies of Dvorak's Symphony #9 (my favorite) on the turntable, they would run for cover.

The cartridge alignment is correct, and I have the tracking force set to the cartridge's recommended 1.7g. I hear no difference with increased tracking force or with changes in the anti-skating.

Maybe the solution is to just buy new, audiophile-grade classical LP's.

Michael

Yes, I remembered you'd had some problems with excess surface noise. I'm somewhat at a loss to understand why you keep having as much difficulty. That's why I suggested that perhaps I'm just more used to it and the level of noise we experience is about the same. Still, everything should be at least listenable (or better). If you're having good success with new vinyl reissues, the only other thing I can think of is that you're ending up with used records that have not been cared for. I buy a lot of used classical records from various used record shops, and I don't run into the problems you're having, so I'm stumped. I am pretty picky about what I buy, however. For example, I won't buy a record that doesn't have an intact inner sleeve: I figure if it's been stored in the jacket without an inner sleeve, it hasn't been cared for and it's very likely in poor shape.

And, as I mentioned above, different turntables/cartridges can produce very different levels of surface noise. Some just seem to exacerbate it, some get ghostly quiet; I don't know how the Project is in this regard.

Hope you're doing well. We've missed seeing you at our local audio group gatherings.
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This is illogical. You get surface noise on your classical lp/s, and not on your pop lp's? Is surface noise selective of it's music genre'?