new vs. used vinyl, pops and clicks.

Thanks for the info guys, you're making me feel better about it. I am getting a VPI 16.5, so I will be able to clean my records. Sounds like I don't have to much to worry about.

I think that you are getting a wonderful settup, the TT and cartridge are both tops. I have a VPI HW19Jr with a Dynavector 10X5 and was very happy. I then added a VPI 16.5 and I am still in shock as to the improvement the RCM made. I have used AI solution, Disc Dr., RRL and the VPI juice. I would rate my satisfaction of them in that order but all are very similar and far superior to even very diligent hand cleaning.

Ditto most of the responses above.

At least 80% of our 3,000+ LPs were bought used. With proper cleaning the large majority are as quiet as any new record. Some are quieter. New vinyl isn't perfect either (and new records must be cleaned as diligently as used ones.)

You must take care while buying of course. Dealing with reputable sellers means that prices are higher, but it's worth it in the long run. Don't expect to find many high quality used records for $1 at flea markets or thrift stores. You may get lucky once in a while, but IME you'll waste alot of time and usually be disappointed.

Much of the disturbing quality in skips is totally hardware dependent. Let me explain why. A skip on a record is not like music. It has a very, very steep rise time and often has energy into the ultrasonic range. Many cartridges, unlike compact discs, can output significant energy to 50K and beyond. Some preamps and amps do not like trying to amplify high level ultrasonic signals with fast rise times and will become unstable or slew rate limit. Not good. Most, but not all, high end gear deals with this better than mid-fi stuff and reproduces ticks without the colorful palette of harmonic and enharmonic distortion products that lesser gear may produce. High end tonearms and cartridges tend to be better damped and store less energy as well; they tend to be less excited by the energy that the cartridge feeds back into the arm when excited by tics. Better platters tend to prevent the record itself from ringing. What I am saying is that, barring the purchase of a peaky old-school moving coil (and the Dyna is not), high end rigs really tend to minimise ticks and pops in a way that mid-fi gear cannot even approach. Finally, with correct VTA the tics and pops are produced in a perceived plane different than the music and not within the fabric of the music itself. The brains sensory gating is then better able to tune them out as well. In the end, don't worry. You're gonna love LP replay.
Marty

I only buy new vinyl. The cleaning machine fancy may be a good thing, but once those surfaces are damaged no amount of cleaning will undo the damage. As tantalizing as those stories of the wonders wrought by ever more expensive cartridges and phono sections on surface noise are, there is no circuitry of any type in that equipment to differentiate between a musical signal and clicks and pops. At that point it's mostly all in the mind, I'm afraid...