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Vinyls sounding crackly

Was playing some of my old vinyl last week - the sound has gone really bad, excessive crackling etc.
Was wondering could this be down to the needles? Cant remember the last time i changed them
The cartridge is a Stanton 500 - could i put one of these Stanton needles onto it like this one? link
The one currently on it is a D5100 AL-II
Thanks

Not an expert but yes, it's most likely the needles.

replace needle, clean vinyl...if it still goes, your pretty much f'd

Try new needles, also I highly recommend cleaning the vinyl too. I use Gruv Glide on all my vinyl. IMO it's the best cleaner. Especially on older vinyl. It brings back a lot of clarity.

Dirty Vinyl or Needle. Clean both. Doesn't work, change needles.

Or your vinyl is worn out.

quote:

Originally posted by djkatmaus Or your vinyl is worn out.

Fuck i hope not
Ill try all the above, thanks

Basically what all these guys said but also I'd take the cart off and clean off the connectors on the back between the tonearm and the cart. Just in case.

How were your records stored?

u have those dust-removers right? they are necesary!

quote:

Originally posted by evo8 Fuck i hope not

The reason I mentioned the vinyl was because this is something I've found on new vinyl. You know, the paper thin cheaply made vinyl. Maybe you guys don't get this stuff overseas, but I find a lot of it in the states.

All the vinyls are stored in their original sleeves in a sort of cabinet type arrangement (typical of what anyone would use for vinyl storage) but not every one of them has that white interior sleeve if you know what i mean

What sort of stuff do you guys recommend for cleaning them? Ive never cleaned my vinyls once, i think some of them are a good few years old (whenever Shiny Disco Balls came out )

quote:

Originally posted by evo8 What sort of stuff do you guys recommend for cleaning them? Ive never cleaned my vinyls once, i think some of them are a good few years old (whenever Shiny Disco Balls came out )

I use Gruv Glide for cleaning my vinyl. It brings out the clarity too after its been cleaned.

quote:

Originally posted by evo8 All the vinyls are stored in their original sleeves in a sort of cabinet type arrangement (typical of what anyone would use for vinyl storage) but not every one of them has that white interior sleeve if you know what i mean

Alright, but are they stacked vertically in the cabinet? Or on top of eachother? If they're vertical, are they packed tightly? Are they near a heat source? Does the temperature in the room fluctuate? Are they exposed to sun? Of course being in a sleeve is very important for protecting a record but these other factors are also critical.

All of my records are stored at room temp in a dry place. They are all standing on a shelf and not packed tightly together. The openings of the outer sleeves point upwards and each one is in an inner sleeve, of which the opening does not point upward. This reduces the chance of anything getting on the vinyl. These are good conditions to preserve vinyl.

Yeeeahh havent gone to as much care as that ^^^
They are stacked vertically side by side, tops open, tightly together
Room is perfectly dry, sun might get on them during the day but its only hitting the edge, cant see how that would cause crackling, warping maybe....
Might investigate that gruv glide stuff

Thanks

quote:

Originally posted by terrytutone The openings of the outer sleeves point upwards and each one is in an inner sleeve, of which the opening does not point upward. This reduces the chance of anything getting on the vinyl. These are good conditions to preserve vinyl.

Oh shit. I had no idea =S
I usually have the inner sleeve pointing upward too. Thanks for the info, man.

And how far should you keep the vinyls away from the heater?

Yeah sounds like either the stylus needs replacing or the record needs a bloody good clean.

You should also make sure your tonearm weight & height are both set correctly as well as the anti-skate, as having those set incorrectly can harm your vinyl as well as the needle itself.

It all depends on what kind of records they are

Got the new needles and put them in - somewhat of an improvement but still some noise there, and i dont mind the odd crackle but when it starts masking over the actual music then it becomes annoying
Gonna look into getting some cleaning stuff for my vinyls, long overdue anyway however the thought of cleaning about 400 of them things doesnt appeal to me too much

It sounding like the vinyl needs cleaning. How much weight do you put on the needle, and at what height is your tone arm? This could play a factor too.

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