How do you get past the pops and hiss of LPs?

You either love the MUSIC, or not? Can you listen to a cheap radio, and fall in love with a bit of music?
I am forced by my own choice to listen to music with the joyous chatter of my parakeet usually crooning to himself. I do not find it disturbing. I am glad he is having a good a time as I. (My cockatiel listens carefully to the music, as if meditating on each note. and is especially enraptured by Maria Callas.)
Cleaning and stuff is great, but the sound of the music seems better via a 'shaded dog' than a CD. clicks included (on damaged vinyl rescued from the hell of second hand store misery)
Be very greatful you have no tinnitus. Talk about HISS!!!!!

Even at its best vinyl may give you a few ticks and pops from time to time-static.It cannot be as quiet as digital either. How do we get past? We just do.Not an issue at all.

You will find that, with proper VTA, which is the angle at which the stylus meets the record, the surface noise will be presented in a different plane than the music. For many, though not all, of us our sensory gating mechanisms can easily tune this out. Contrast this with the CD, where the noise actually exists within the fabric of the music.

Kevin,
You don't have to get a multi-kilobuck analogue rig to have your records sound quiet.
I set up to my nephiew an analogue with cheap Dual turntable $20 from ebay, $20 Audiotechnica cartridge bought new right after the turntable, "amputated" auto return mechanizm to make it manual... $1 Records he's got from the different garage sale basements sound increadible with no clicks noise and pops.
He's now using RadioShack battery-powered phonostage. Overall the analogue setup was less than $100 including phono. To beat this setup you should realy get CD-player above $200 used or $400 new. Having Thorens table it's more than possible to bring it back alive with carefull cartridge and arm setup. Go to www.turntablebasics.com, examine your cartridge's condition or better-off replace it for any descent new one since cartridge ages when it's not played. I'd recommend looking-up www.turntablebasics.com for proper setup.

My poor reputation having no doubt preceded me, I will refrain from commenting on this provocative topic.