Does anyone still use or like vinyl?

[Dave2002]

That seems to suggest the records were OK when you bought them Richard...or at least they got worse. It seems the likely cause is/was static attracting dust - it can be the devil to combat, just look at YouTube posts on keeping vinyl clean and static free. My LPs are as pristine as the day they were bought (some getting on for fifty years ago. Firstly I persisted with finding a good pressing in the first place, and like Maclintick above would take them back if not acceptable - after I had my own record shop, it was no problem!

The secret I found lay in treating them as early as possible, that is as soon as a pressing played OK I would apply Permastat anti-static spray. This magical but much maligned product - now difficult to find - I have treated much of my collection....and if used correctly will protect your vinyl for at least 50 years! Those who have not had success with this treatment, either haven't used it properly, or have unreasonable expectations; they think treating faulty/damaged records will turn them into pristine ones....it won't.

I still treat records with Permastat - there is a source in Holland if you search online...I recently bought two complete kits (at a price!), they should see me out!

I don't know whether Permastat or a similar product was a good thing to use, but if you've been happy with it that's fine. LIke many others I tried sprays, and anti-static guns, as well as the Watts dust bug. Quite a while later I heard some LPs played on very good equipment, and I actually wonder if one of the main factors was just the quality of the replay kit. Small scratches and bits of dust should actually be almost inaudible if played on good kit - or so I believe, though obviously those people who stick chewing gum or plasticine on their records were asking for trouble.

[Roger Webb]

............. Quite a while later I heard some LPs played on very good equipment, and I actually wonder if one of the main factors was just the quality of the replay kit. Small scratches and bits of dust should actually be almost inaudible if played on good kit..............

I have used my LPs on probably the best turntable, arm and cartridge combinations that it was (in the 1970s) possible to buy...Linn Sondek, Grace arm, Supex and Entré1 cartridges, I now use a more modest system Thorens TD160/SME/Goldring E4. It was always a misconception put about by manufacturers of expensive equipment (Linn Sondek!) that it was kinder to noisy surfaces....although a good stylus is essential - it must 'ride' in the best part of the groove to avoid rubble in the bottom of the groove and scratches at the top of the groove.

Static is the main problem, defeat that and you've at least made a start - I've tried all the 'anti-static' guns and a totally useless 'Dust Bug' type devices...they don't work!

LPs will never be absolutely without imperfections - I have, probably 20 in my collection of several hundred that are without flaw, but listening to friends' LPs, I don't know how they put up with them!

Of course you could find inferior equipment to play them on....if you wanted to prove a point!

[HighlandDougie]

I invested some of my ill-gotten gains from work in Hong Kong a couple of years ago in renewing my vinyl set-up. One thing led to another so what was going to be a new external power supply for my aged Roksan Xerxes turned into a new Xerxes, a new tone-arm and a rather good Ortofon moving coil cartridge. While surface noise etc hasn't disappeared, I seem no longer to notice it very much, which must, I think, be due to the quality of the cartridge. I still have a lot of LPs, having gone through crazes of, for example, seeking out and buying as much Vaughan Williams as was ever released in the 1950s, both 12" and 10". I drew the line at 45rpm EPs. Alas, it's mostly now in my attic as I simply don't have room for it.

[Roger Webb]

I invested some of my ill-gotten gains from work in Hong Kong a couple of years ago in renewing my vinyl set-up. One thing led to another so what was going to be a new external power supply for my aged Roksan Xerxes turned into a new Xerxes, a new tone-arm and a rather good Ortofon moving coil cartridge. While surface noise etc hasn't disappeared, I seem no longer to notice it very much, which must, I think, be due to the quality of the cartridge. I still have a lot of LPs, having gone through crazes of, for example, seeking out and buying as much Vaughan Williams as was ever released in the 1950s, both 12" and 10". I drew the line at 45rpm EPs. Alas, it's mostly now in my attic as I simply don't have room for it.

Yes almost certainly the cartridge....in my list of cartridges I've used I missed out the four Ortofons I've had, the best being a moving coil MC20 - some of the new ones they do are tempting though! The Roksan Xerxes is an interesting deck, and similar the the Thorens I mention. I recently noticed that the Xerxes was the deck of choice for Inspector Morse in some of the early episodes (with a Naim amplifier). The reason I have been watching all the episodes of Morse is that (part of) my Lp collection features in an episode! Until it appeared, in one of the late ones, I had never seen it. A friend was a set-dresser on some of them and asked if he could borrow some. As Morse was supposed to be an opera buff I let them have all my box sets - I took the vinyl out and a 'box' van took them away!

Like you I'm short of room in the cottage, but the previous owner built on a music room in which I have the main system and about a couple of hundred LPs, the rest is relegated to the conservatory!

[Dave2002]

Like you I'm short of room in the cottage, but the previous owner built on a music room in which I have the main system and about a couple of hundred LPs, the rest is relegated to the conservatory!

The rest of what? kit? LPs?

If LPs I hope you live in a dim and dismal part of the world [joking] as conservatories can get very hot, and the discs will almost certainly bend.

[hmvman]

The static problem with LPs wasn't helped by the very thin pressings of the mid to late-seventies/early eighties. At that time I had a Bang &Olufsen turntable and quite often, after being played, the thin records would stick to the turntable with the static and there'd be audible crackle as I lifted them off! Things improved a bit when I bought a Thorens turntable which had a thick rubber mat.

I think the modern vinyl pressings are much thicker, although I haven't seen one to confirm this.

[smittims]

'rubber mat', ah, yes.

My 50-year-old AR turntable, which has just been abandoned as beyond repair, came with a rubber mat which perished , unknown to me till it had deposited tiny scraps of sticky stuff on my LPs , some of which were too bad to be cleaned. En Garde! rubber-mat owners. It could happen to you.

[Roger Webb]

The rest of what? kit? LPs?

If LPs I hope you live in a dim and dismal part of the world [joking] as conservatories can get very hot, and the discs will almost certainly bend.

The system in the music room has the Quad Electrostatics (2812s), part of my main Music system. The drawing room has the TV and another Quad system which has little Quad 9L speakers and a Vena 2 Play....very much my evening woodburner-end listening position!
The kitchen has another system, for when I'm cooking.

The conservatory is actually an oak-framed extension with some glass and solid slate roof, and faces north, so the vinyl is safe (about 500 LPs - I've never counted them!)....being on the 'dim and dismal' side!...... the Wye Valley on the Welsh border here is not the sunniest part of the country!

BTW vinyl LPs will only bend under direct sun, not just in 'very hot' rooms.

At the moment the conservatory houses my 'take-away' loudspeakers, as we are going away for a week's holiday on Saturday, it consists of Quad (of course) self powered monitors....I no longer take LPs away on holiday....just a tablet!

[Roger Webb]

...................... it had deposited tiny scraps of sticky stuff on my LPs ,

I've noticed also that the white sheets of sponge rubber (?) they put in box sets of LPs deteriorates over time to form a dust, which can get into the paper sleeves and onto the LPs.

[richardfinegold]

That seems to suggest the records were OK when you bought them Richard...or at least they got worse. It seems the likely cause is/was static attracting dust - it can be the devil to combat, just look at YouTube posts on keeping vinyl clean and static free. My LPs are as pristine as the day they were bought (some getting on for fifty years ago. Firstly I persisted with finding a good pressing in the first place, and like Maclintick above would take them back if not acceptable - after I had my own record shop, it was no problem!

The secret I found lay in treating them as early as possible, that is as soon as a pressing played OK I would apply Permastat anti-static spray. This magical but much maligned product - now difficult to find - I have treated much of my collection....and if used correctly will protect your vinyl for at least 50 years! Those who have not had success with this treatment, either haven't used it properly, or have unreasonable expectations; they think treating faulty/damaged records will turn them into pristine ones....it won't.

I still treat records with Permastat - there is a source in Holland if you search online...I recently bought two complete kits (at a price!), they should see me out!

Static was a major issue. I lived in cheap apartments and they get dry and dusty in long midwestern winters. However I tried a few what were supposedly state of the art anti static devices and if anything they made them worse. One of my friends had dropped out of University to work in a high end audio store and I brought my small collection of Phillips and DGs (most of my records were budget Seraphim, Columbias and RCA and the vinyl was poor quality from the start ) . I remember him using some anti static device that looked like a gun. If anything it made them worse.
The bigger issue was my budget Gerrard turntable, fitted with whatever entry level cartridge of the day was offered. After a while I nicknamed it Old Slash and Burn. My friends all had the same table and the same issue.
I tossed the Gerrard in the nineties. I hadn’t played and LPs for years after my collection was destroyed and it was in my basement. I came home from work one day and my triplets, who were about 7 years old, were winding up the platter counter clockwise and launching Beanie Babies from it. I remember that mentally I had crossed a Rubicon when I was actually glad that someone was deriving some enjoyment from it. When that toy fad passed the table was tossed as part of a cleanup, as by that time I was a very happy CD user.

[Roger Webb]

Static was a major issue.................. I remember him using some anti static device that looked like a gun. If anything it made them worse.
The bigger issue was my budget Gerrard turntable, fitted with whatever entry level cartridge of the day was offered.......

That was the Zerostat 'anti-static' gun - amazingly making a comeback, if YouTube posts are to be believed!....it didn't work for me either.

The Garrard SP25 Mk 3 was my first 'hifi' turntable too....but soon it was replaced with a Garard 401, surplus to requirements in the radio studio I had worked in.

I'm certainly not against CD, and, apart from selling them for a living, I have a large collection which are still played.....but then....I still love my Lp collection - the 'process' of playing the music has a certain ritual.....I suppose akin to the Japanese Tea Ceremony - you don't engage in that because you're thirsty!

[richardfinegold]

I invested some of my ill-gotten gains from work in Hong Kong a couple of years ago in renewing my vinyl set-up. One thing led to another so what was going to be a new external power supply for my aged Roksan Xerxes turned into a new Xerxes, a new tone-arm and a rather good Ortofon moving coil cartridge. While surface noise etc hasn't disappeared, I seem no longer to notice it very much, which must, I think, be due to the quality of the cartridge.

I repurchased a turntable in the early 2000s. Vinyl was starting a comeback with stores with old LPs and at that point many favorite recordings from my LP collecting days had not been digitalized. I bought an entry level Project table and phono stage. I liked hearing old favorite records in those pre streaming days but the same issues reappeared. I bought one of the 180 gram LPs-Monteux conducting Debussy-and after half a dozen playing it was filled with extraneous noise, despite the fact that I treated it like a vestal virgin . During the next decade I moved up to a Rega P5, less noisy but terrible speed instability. I finally upgraded to a Clearaudio Concept with the Concept mc cartridge. I have to say it was quieter, but while its speed stability was appreciated after the Rega, it was a boring, tidy sound. By this time most of those recordings that had previously been unavailable digitally had been digitalized, frequently as budget box sets with new remasterings, and with rare exceptions these blew away the vinyl. My wife was dismayed at the space occupied by the LPs were taking and I had stopped playing. Off went the analog (I bought my present DAC with proceeds, as the vinyl revival turned the boring Clearaudio into a heck of an investment).
A few years on the pandemic arrived. Out of boredom and midlife angst I bought a Technics Direct Drive, with a strobe light. The DJ Table (new model but deliberately retro styled). I had always wanted one. This is the quietest and most speed stable I have ever owned. Someone criticized Direct Drives as Digital Sound, to which my reply was Bring It On. I purchased a few LPs that I thought hadn’t been digitalized (Ristenpart Bach, Charles Rosen Beethoven Sonatas, a few random Nonesuch miscellany), only to eventually discover they had been digitalized, and again I preferred the digital version. I play the analog once a week just to keep it working. I feel like my Grandfather who would take his Model A Ford for a Sunday Spin

[smittims]

Exactly. This is what I call 'the joys of vinyl!' ln the days when you could still get roll film I enjoyed using an old Rolleiflex twin-lens camera just for the pleasure if using it , and using a turntable , going through the rite of cleaning the disc, brushing your stylus and watching the 'Ace of Clubs' or 'Columbia' blue label go round and round is akin to driving a vintage car (and spending Sunday morning getting the plugs out, etc. ) . Those who say 'Get a digital camera ; or 'why not just play a CD?' are missing the point . It's like asking an angler why he sits by a canal in the pouring rain with a can of worms for company when he could be cosy at home watching 'Prisoner Cell Block H'.

As TS Eliot said. ' That is not it, at all;
That is not wnat I meant , at all'.

(the Love-song of J Alfred Prufrock)

[Maclintick]

I achieved extraordinary levels of pointlessness during lockdown when attempting to resuscitate old analogue gear which had been languishing in a kind relative’s garage for more than 20 years.

First up was a vintage Pioneer PL516 turntable — not exactly in the Linn Sondek class, let alone Roksan, but a solid performer and an affordable one in the late 70s early 80s. Surprisingly, the drive belt hadn’t deteriorated into the tarry mess I was expecting, but seemed a little slack, so I replaced it (£15 from GB audio Edinburgh ). The perspex cover had some ugly deep scratches, so I wasted a day attempting to buff them out with headlamp restorer. In the late 70s all the fancy interconnects which would become so fashionable in later years hadn’t really hit the market, and the original RCA phono leads were of the cheapest quality you used to get in the old Tandy Stores (RadioShack in the US, I believe).These I replaced with good quality Cambridge Audio leads for which I didn’t need an extra mortgage. In order to damp out unwanted tonearm resonances, I placed rubber grommets at strategic points — this may well have been a mistake, and I can’t remember for the life of me now which YouTube charlatan convinced me it was a good idea.
The original strobe-light and speed adjustment were all working fine, and I don’t notice any wow and flutter. I seem to have acquired several cartridges, including Audio technic VM 95E, Nagaoka MP110, Goldring E3, Ortofon 2M Blue, but I’ve settled on the little Denon DL110 as my go-to for classical music.

[Roger Webb]

.................. I seem to have acquired several cartridges, including Audio technic VM 95E, Nagaoka MP110, Goldring E3, Ortofon 2M Blue, but I’ve settled on the little Denon DL110 as my go-to for classical music.

A clutch of decent cartridges there Macl. I nearly went for the Ortofon 2M series...probably the Bronze, which is upgradable to the Black. In the end I bought the Goldring E3, but upgraded after a couple of weeks with the E4 stylus which is excellent in my SME 3009 imp 2 arm - it's hard now to find cartridges of sufficient compliance for low mass arms such as the SME - the moving coil types don't really suit them. I have just renovated my Thorens TD 160 BC mk 2 which has given good service the late 70s, before that I had Linn Sondek and a Hydraulic Reference...perhaps the most beautifully engineered poor design in the history of HiFi!