Tips for buying used Vinyl needed

Jwglista's advice is good but I have to disagree with the statement "Beware of mono recordings". I like; make that love mono recordings. Vintage 1954-1969 mono recordings are among the best sounding LPs I own. To repeat; certain labels are well known for better sonics.

Many mono LPs were played (and damaged) with older stereo cartridges and much of the noise will go away if you use a dedicated mono cartridge. If your not hunting for certain records, i.e. original mono Blue Notes, the mono pressings are often cheaper and sound better. In my experience, early stereo recordings are of variable quality. You limit yourself from enjoying a number of great performances, especially if you are a jazz or classical afficianado.

Good hunting!

>>12-11-10: Tzh21y
Spindle hole can tell a lot.<<

Actually it tells you nothing in and of itself.

Move on.

A mono comment brings to mind "reprocessed for stereo" records. Get the mono instead.
If you are desparate, go ahead and buy the reprocessed, then play back in mono.
(Agree Jazz mono are the "cat's meow") and required for any Jazz collection.

Completely agree with Jazdoc - in fact it is early stereo you should avoid. Until they got it right there was an over-exaggerated "hole in the middle" image to stereo which is quite annoying to listen to. I much prefer mono for most early jazz.

I've tried to get into mono recordings, but I just can't. I'm sure there are many that sound great, but it just doesn't sound enjoyable to my ears. I didn't mean to start a stereo/mono argument, just wanted to point out that if you don't want mono, then you have to pay close attention to albums. To each his/her own.