Vinyl playback issues

Hello,

I am new to the forum, and have recently begun to purchase and play vinyl again after a number of years away from the form. I definitely do not consider myself an experienced audiophile, but I'm here to learn. My desires for vinyl playback are basic: minimal/normal surface noise, acceptable separation, clear/non-distorted highs and lows, audible mids, and longevity of the hardware.

I have a Technics PT-2000 turntable and had a Stanton 680 EL MKII-MP cartridge that was worn, so I replaced it with a cheaper Audio-Technica AT92E at the recommendation of the owner of my local new & used vinyl record store (he said it was a good low-end cartridge).

I have been having some serious issues with brand new vinyl that I've purchased since I've been getting back into the form the past few months. Basically, a good 40-50% of the brand new vinyl that I've purchased -- both regular and 180 gram formats -- has sounded poor when I played it. By far, the most signifcant problem has been excessive or regularly re-ocurring surface noise: by this I mean either tons of pops and crackles that are louder than the music (I can even hear the loud pops/crackles over the music on the rock/metal albums I have), or the same loud pop or crackle at regular intervals during playback (i.e., every time the record reaches a certain point in its revolution, the same loud pop or crackle occurs). A secondary problem has been distortion of the sound, especially the highs (vocals and guitar). Typically, the sound distortion problem is correlated with the records having the most amount of surface noise.

I understand that some amount of surface noise is going to occur with vinyl playback, but what bothers me is that: A. The BRAND NEW vinyl has an excessive amount of noise (when I buy something new, I expect it to sound like new), B. The problem does not happen with all of the new vinyl I have purchased (some of the new records I've purchased are quiet as a mouse), and C. Oftentimes the used and heavily played vinyl that I've purchased or had in my collection for years has less or at best an equal amount of surface noise and distortion than the brand new records.

Prior to purchasing the new records, I took the record player to a turntable specialist at a local high-end audio place to make sure my setup was good (tracking force, anti-skate, tonearm height, etc.). He fine-tuned everything, and he informed me about the plate and scale you can purchase to help aid with proper setup.

So, does anyone have any idea what the issue may be? Is it the setup, the cartridge, the turntable, or the records themselves?

I do think I should get a better quality cartridge. Does anyone have any recommendations for a good quality cartridge under $100, given my components? I know I won't be getting audiophile quality at that price, but I'd like something that is really good for the value. Something that can handle the surface noise issues, that is relatively durable, and that gives acceptable separation, non-distorted highs and lows, and audible mids.

Thanks for any help you can provide!

I want to say thank you to everyone that responded. I guess my message really got a debate going about the quality of new vs. old vinyl.

It's really interesting to hear others speak about bad experiences with new vinyl because I originally thought that could possibly be the issue, but then I thought I was crazy for thinking that because I assumed new vinyl would be of equal or perhaps even better quality than vintage vinyl. Especially because the new "heavy" vinyl that I've purchased but have not had problems with sounds amazing.

And the more I thought about it after reading your responses, there really might be something to the idea that certain labels put out better quality new stuff. I say this because many of the problems I've had have been either with multiple albums by the same artist or albums by multiple artists on the same label. Although this doesn't fit the profile of all of the problematic records I've come across, it does apply in many cases.

Anyhow, to respond to a few specific questions/ideas people had...

Uncle Erik: Thanks for the ideas on new cartridges. Someone recommended the Grado a while back, but then I read somewhere that the Grados amplify surface noise issues, which made me shy away from it. Have you experienced this? If not, perhaps I'll check it or the Shure out. As for your question, I have cleaned my records before playing them, both the old ones and the new ones. My first thought after encountering the problem was: "dirty record." Cleaning did not solve the problem for the ones that were clearly problematic. It's funny, but I can tell almost immediately if the problem will be solved by cleaning, depending on the types of surface noise that I hear. In almost 100% of the cases of the type I described in my original message, cleaning helped reduce some of the regular surface noise you expect to hear, but not the big problems (loud re-ocurring crackles/pops/clicks at regular intervals or distortion). Now, granted, I don't use a vaccuum method to clean the records, instead relying on the old brush + solution method. But in my opinion, I should not have to drop $500-1000 on a VPI or Nitty Gritty machine just so I can get my brand new vinyl to sound like it should: BRAND NEW. That's highway robbery, in my opinion.

Bigshot: Yeah, I have taken some of the new vinyl back to the shop (on some of them, I waited too long to test listen and missed the "return by" date). But frankly, I'm getting sick of doing this, especially because the stores have been resistant to me taking stuff back and are getting sick of me. I mean, I don't care what they think, but it is a hassle to deal with. At least twice I've gotten a "well, vinyl is supposed to have pops and clicks when you play it" response from the sales rep, like I'm some kind of idiot or something. My response is: "No crap, but new vinyl is not supposed to sound like THIS!" Anyhow, I've been trying to buy vintage as much as possible, but some of the reissues or new pressings are just cheaper in price than a hundred dollar vintage one on ebay. Regardless, I hear you on the quality of vintage over new vinyl. I try to get a lot from used record shops for under $10. But for new artists/bands or rare stuff that's only recently been re-issued, finding them at said stores is highly unlikely.

WolfyWolf: My phono stage is pretty simple: I have the direct drive turntable that I purchased about 6 years ago running directly into the receiver on my hi-fi system. No separate pre-amp. I think this part of my setup is OK because the records that do not have any of the problems I originally described sound great (and volume is not an issue as well). The one thing I think I am going to do is upgrade my cartridge. Maybe that will resolve some of the problems, as long as said problems are not purely with the pressings.

TimJo: I agree big time on your point about understanding the cause of surface noise on new vs. old stuff. If I buy a used record and it has surface noise, no complaints from me, as that's understandable. But if I buy a brand new record, in my opinion, it better sound like a brand new record. And by that I mean, it better not be warped and it better not have any of the specific problems I mentioned in my original message.

Mattstrike: I listened to some of the records prior to tuning the turntable setup, and some of them after doing so. And the ones I listened to prior to the fine tuning, I re-listened to once again after the fine tuning. I thought my setup could be the source of the problem, so that's why I had it fine tuned. But the problematic records I listened to before the fine tuning still exhibited the same problems after the fine tuning. As for the wiring in the tone arm being a possible source of the problem, do you know how I could test this? Would poor wiring cause only some records to sound bad, while others sound pristine? I'm not sure. Sadly, my local hi-fi dealer probably is not the kind of place that would allow me to bring in my turntable to play it on multiple different setups. For instance, the guy that fine tuned my turntable for me said he was "breaking protocol" by agreeing to do so free of charge (I was willing to pay him some money for his time, but in the end, he said I didn't have to but that I should buy something from the store in the future.) But I'll definitely inquire.

As for buying a new cartridge, does anyone know if the Grado Black or the Shure MX 97 E are good then it comes to dealing with surface noise?