When do records damage a stylus

Sean - Oh, I've blown tweeters before, but always because I was trying to rock out too much using an underpowered SS amp, or because I screwed around with an upstream connection while the amp was on and the preamp unmuted. But you'll be the first one to know when I blow a tweeter (or damage an amp?) playing a lousy condition record (though I guess you'd just say my tube amps are too slow for this... :-)

Z: Most tube circuits move about as fast as turtles on their backs. Then again, some SS designs i've run across are even slower than that. I've got two SS amps that slew at 5v/uS. Then again, my Dad's old tube preamp used to have a 13 uS rise time. Can you say "sloooooow" but do it VERY slowly : ) Sean
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Y'know, every time I think I'm gonna save up for some test gear so I can get intimate with my system's rise time, I blow my money on records and wind up listening to music instead...

Besides, the 'rise time' I find matters most is the amount of *time* you can spend listening before you're compelled to *rise* out of your chair and turn the system off, and here tubes have the advantage, because longer is better ;^)

As Groucho would say, records break a stylus when the stylus need replacing. And you can afford it if you look at Grado or Goldring. Styli wear badly at something like 500 hours of playing uncleaned unpreserved records. Good cleaning will add a factor of three or five. Well cleaned records tend to become less noisy as the stylus shears off the offending anomolies.

The worst thing I have experienced is when a hard particle becomes wedged in the groove. With good light and a good jeweler's loop (sp?) you can always see them. They are disloged with a needle.

You may have bad alignment which will multiply all problems.

I think we need more detail. How many of your records worry you? What are they like in terms of age and visual condition upon inspection?

What are you using to play them? I confess, this is one of the stranger problems and I am keen to suss it out.

Chin up

I am going to try this again after re-reading your question. I will now say that since you have cleaned them, that the pops should be sheared off after several playings.

I would start using Last record preservative for the ones you have cleaned. The above still does apply, but I hear significant noise reduction.

I stand by my Groucho paraphrase