tt surface noise reduce or tolerate?

Clean records and correct tonearm/cartridge alignment are the keys.

Unless the vinyl has been damaged by improper alignment (irreversible), most records can be cleaned to at least tolerable noise levels.

I own 50 year old records that are dead black quiet and others that, despite purchased new and cleaned immediately, display some background noise. The quality of vinyl, pressing operation, etc. are beyond your control.

I would seek out well kept original copies in lieu of new and reissued records. Much of the new stuff is junk and almost all of it is overpriced.

Hear-hear, as the Brits say.....(:

Radioheadoplayer: As many posts have already pointed out some noise is inherient with record playing. I have found, a significant amount can be eliminated by careful cleaning.

A record cleaning machine(RCM) can do much to lessen noise especially in combination with Steam Cleaning : Read the Steam Cleaning Thread for details and free suggestions.

Radio, dispite all cleaning efforts some recordings are noisey due to manufacturing defects and prior owner abuse. If that's the case get another copy. I suspect that extensive cd playback has made you extra-aware of noise.That's ok because Steam Cleaning has the ability to silence many a groove noise. If all of his sounds like work-It is but look at the audio discoveries to be found. All the best.

So far all the Radiohead LPs I've gotten have been quiet.

In the CD world, those with analog master tapes are frequently reissues of older LPs. Older master tapes have degraded with time; its not that the original LPs covered up the hiss, the hiss was often simply not there. If you get a chance to play with a 1/2" format stereo tape machines you find out what I really mean.

A lot of transistor tape machines will make a sort of 'modulation noise' that is absent on the tube tape machines, and it is transistor recorders that often are used to master CD reissues. So CDs will often have tape hiss that the original LP issues will not, though no fault of either media- its more of a mastering problem.

There are many reasons reasons Lps fail most having to do with the creation of the LP recording, far fewer after that. Too many newbeyee's are unware of the manufacturing thresholds that must be crossed before a "pure" recording is possible. It takes years with a mentor and with to understand the thresholds to overcome. All the best.