CD vs. SACD vs. DVD-Audio vs Vinyl vs...

That's a very tough call, and would vary with the vinyl formulation. Maybe 10 or 15 times with a good hard vinyl surface, maybe 3 to 8 times with a soft one. It's almost imperceptable, so maybe the treble range above 15kHz loses about .2 dB with every 10 to 20 plays (past the first 10). IT VARIES MORE THAN THAT GOING FROM OUTER TO INNER GROOVE, USUALLY, from the surface velocity decrease. With the best tracking cartridges, this particular effect might be below audibility. And sometimes, it was compenstated for during that particular LP's manfacturing process. But there are far bigger transgressions than this, like faulty RIAA curve settings for the cutting amplifier. I use Gruv Glide every time I play a side usually, along with this five step process (others will disagree, and they're wrong...heh heh, kidding...sort of): Clean the stylus with the Benz brush; An older bottle of Last #4 on the stylus; then a newer one; then Record Research Lab #9; then Last #5. I try to let it dry for 30 seconds or more between each application. I do this for every record side played. If the cantilever suspension turns grey (dried out) after a year or two, I apply Armor All with the end of a toothpick, directly onto the rubber (carefully!). You have to do it upside down, so take the arm off first, or else take the cartridge off. Works great.

Bmpnyc, great story about the industry. Do you know Russ Burger from JPR, the design group for Sony/CBS. He and I used to work together when I was a rep for a bunch of audio lines some years ago. He too ran a Recording studio, and even did some work for commercials as well. His experience with JPR landed him the job of keeping Woody Allen's NYC apartment quiet and isolated from the annoying sound of the nearby elevators. Russ absolutely hated CD, and the last time I spoke to him, he seemed to have not changed his mind. On to the other topic, your comments about digital imaging being new is true, compared to film. And true too, the CD is 20 years old. However, the CD format was set "in stone" 20 years ago and cannot be altered or there would be compatibility problems. And digital imaging can and does change frequently, as different systems are introduced. The good news is with digital cameras, at least the professional versions, is that it need only fit the existing "film" cameras in the area where normally the "old" film format goes. The primary ones are designed to fit professional cameras like I use, Hasselblad, and view formats like the Sinar 4X5 camera from Switzerland. Back to audio, the comment about listening to a turntable, I hope that it will be with a great cartridge, tonearm, and superior phono stage. If not, you still will not have heard analog at it's best. I have stated in other postings that I would love for digital to be in my system, and I was sincere. Perhaps things have changed drastically since three years ago when I had my big digital "shoot out". I had Theta, Krell, Number Cruncher, Wadia, Sonic Frontiers, Barclay, CRC, Audio Research to name a few. The tests went on for almost seven months, and end the end I was frustrated. I could not find a digital system that delivered the quality of resolution that my high end turntable did. By the way, if you are looking to test a turntable, go no lower than the big VPI or Basis. It would be Preferable to listen to a Walker or Clear Audio.

Generally, audiophiles will not experience record wear problems when proper setups and good habits are in use. LPs can be played many times, but never the same cut within 24 hours. If you can hear the difference between 3, 8 and 15 times then poor setup and use habits are showing. I hear wear after played twice on Lacquers, which is very brittle surface and has virtually no recovery. Vinyl has excellent recovery and wear factors if properly used. Carl comments on proper cartridge/arm set up being more aurally perceptible are excellent advice. I differ on Carl's opinion on Armor All use. Forget the Armor All on the rubber. Armor All accelerates aging of all rubber compounds used on cartridges. This probably chasing a problem you should basically never experience given normal cartridge life spans in audiophile systems. Time would be better spent logging your favorite VTA on LPs and rechecking set ups. Gerrym5

Gerry, do you offer any imperical and credible evidence that Armor All accelorates the aging of the rubber compound in cantliver suspensions? And not just what somebody told you...

Yes and No. I followed the development of a competitive automotive product "331" that specifically competes against Armor All. It was formulated by a chemical engineer eliminating all of the dehydrating chemicals used in Armor All. The president of this company is a tennis buddy of mine and he showed me test comparisons on various rubber compounds from tires to, hoses and small flex parts. Several hundred samples made up the tests. Each test had at least three new rubber samples of untreated, Armor All treated, and 331 treated all taken through an aging process. Armor All treated samples exhibited most aging and dehydration results much worst than the untreated samples. Simply put, it shortens rubber life. 331 slightly extended life while still creating much of the beautifying effects that Armor All produces when first applied. However, since 331 didn't win the first impression appearance tests it remains a very poor seller. Since that really why most people buy Armor All. This proved to be a sad investment cycle for my tennis buddy. Being in the market first, and producing the most pronounced visual immediate improvement wins the game, not something that is really better for the rubber. Again, you may feel that you are getting improvement, but seeing what I have seen leads me to conclude NEVER put Armor All on rubber, not even my tires on my M5. Like I said, my opinion is that the natural flexibility and memory life span of that rubber used in cartridges will exceed the normal audiophile's interest in the cartridge. I have about 10-15 cartridges going all the way back to Shure, Supex, Decca, Grado, Denon, Spectral, Clearaudio, Cardas, Koetsu on forward. I haven't experienced the problem you're describing. Your opinion is yours. I chosen a different process to use based on seeing some information and my own intuition. I am happy for you that you are seeing good results. Just as a follow up though, I'll look through a microscope at the rubber condition on some of my stored old cartridges when I get around to that. Gerrym5