Keith G wrote:
Brian Gaff wrote:
Well lots of other responses to choose from, without reading them my
first thought was yes, wear, but also the compliance of some carts
that old will have become either too soft or too hard, particularly
true I recall with moving coil units.

However if this has occured over time, it may well have damaged
records you play a lot.

Another think is any lubricants in the arm. These can go sticky over
time, and may need cleaning out and replacing.

As you say, old second hand vinyl is not exactly going to be a test
disc worth relying upon. You need a known good sounding copy of
something.


Just an observation: Unless it has changed radically in the last two or
three years, it is/was not difficult to find unplayed or played only
once or twice vinyl in charity shops.

An ex of mine astonished me by the number of 78's she was able to accumulate in
that manner. She had one of those antique horn record player thingy's. It
sounded bloody awful of course but looked wonderful.

--
Bill Coombes