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How Long do LP's last

I am recently returned to the world of audio and have a question. In addition to a nice CD player I added a nice little VPI HW19Jr. turntable to my system. I love the sound of vinyl and find it far more enjoyable to listen to than the CD's, though they are nice too. I have a rather modest LP collection and I am listening so much to vinyl I am concerned that I will wear out some of my records. How long to they last. I use a Dynavector 10x5 set at about 2.0, no problems with tracking. What can one expect. One sollution will be to add several hundred new LP's to the collection, I am working on that. Any other thoughts? How many plays can I expect? thanks.
davt
jphii
485 posts
 
I think that after you play them once, you should send them all to me. The quality goes downhill very quickly, and I don't mind listening to sub-par lps.
sdatch
204 posts
 
And hey, that's a lot longer than we can expect a lot of digital media to last. I have at least 2 CDs from the late 80s that have completely oxidized. Maybe I should be backing my hard drive up to LP :)... In all serious, a few years ago one of the Comp. Sci. journals I subscribe to actually listed the lifespan of storage media, and included vinyl. I can't recall the exact lifespan, but I think it was 50-100 years, depending on wear and tear. CD ROM was around 5-20 years. Paper naturally had the longest lifespan (500 years), but we can't very well listen to paper. So score one for vinyl.
albertporter's avatar
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albertporter
4,927 posts
 
I have also treated most of my LP's with LAST, and have been very pleased with the long-term results. I don't know that there is a magic number for how many times an LP can be played before audible signs of deterioration occur, but based on my experience, I think several hundred times is a reasonable guess

Sdcampbell, I too use Last. I have several hundred LP's that were treated many years ago and they still play as new.

This afternoon I listened to an original Decca a friend bought in Europe. It was from the 1950's, and the performance and sound were both breathtaking. Amazing that anything can remain viable, still providing excellence nearly half a century after it was manufactured.
surfgod
229 posts
 
I have read somewere that polyvinyl chloride can last 100 years. After that, who cares.
alephman
107 posts
 
Cleaning them with a VPI 16.5 using Disc Doctor fluid and pads and then treating them with LAST I've had records that have lasted years with no sign of wear or damage. I also use Stylast which I think lowers the wear on your records as well as your stylus.
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