Used vs New LP's

[Dentman]

With the way records ware over X amount of plays does it make sense to hunt down used records of highly valued, to you albums? I can see it for less critical listening but for the well recorded, personal favorites is new the only way to go.
Let me mention collectors value aside for this discussion.

 

[MakeMineVinyl]

Firstly, properly cared for records do not wear out as long as they are played on a high quality turntable, correctly set up. I have records I bought in the late 1960s which still sound like new with no added noise.

Of course that its been well cared for and played only on a good turntable a big assumption!

 

[Dentman]

Your right. I have stuff from the late 50's that still sounds great. I've been reading to much audiophile stuff related to vinyl as I shopped for a new turntable.

 

[Deleted member 133]

The problem with used vinyl is exactly that you don't know how well it has been cared for. A visual inspection of the record itself, and its cover / artwork can give you some comfort, but you really don't know until you get it home and try it out. I suspect most shops nowadays would let you try a used record in-store, using some set-up of theirs (and headphones), but how do you know that their gear is set up properly?

I believe I've cared for my original-bought records properly, and like rammis' they sound as good as when new, but then again I had some roommates in res at university who might not have when they helped themselves and spun them when I was out (at least on my properly set-up turntable.)

I don't buy vinyl any more, but if I did it would almost certainly be new only. Just about any recording that I want can be found in some digital format. (Example: I've recently used Spotify Premium to acquire a few dozens of albums worth of content that I'd been looking for, in some cases, for years.)

Jeff