I've bought a lot of records. It isn't just on-line where you have to be careful. It's not uncommon for a record that looks VG++ or NM to actually have been played on a turntable with a crap arm & cartridge so the groove itself is damaged.
I prefer to take my own cartridge mounted in a headshell with me when I go to the local stores. I ask the owner if they're ok with me mounting my cartridge and carefully balancing the tonearm. Usually they're ok with me doing this. If I can't, and the arm is crap and the cartridge looks cheap, I audition any records I want to buy very sparingly.
__________________
MarkusTubesNow
-------------------
Analog sources: Garrard 401 in custom Baltic birch plinth, Jelco 850L 12" arm, Dynavector 17D3 into custom LCR phono stage, LP12 w/Ittok temporarily removed from system, Sony 2251/stock arm/Signet 33Ea into Plinius Jarrah phono stage, Nakamichi Cassette Deck 2, Numark dj turntable for playing 78s
Digital: Old laptop streaming Spotify or Cambridge CXC into MHDT Orchid with Amperex 6DJ8 tube (via socket adapter), Naim CD 3.5 cd player
Preamp: Supratek Cortese with LCR
Power amplifiers: Audio Electronic Supply (AES) SE-1 300B SET, Quad 909
Speakers: Quad ESL 2805, JBL 4430 studio monitors (93 dB efficient, so they work well with the 300B amp)
Power: Goal Zero Yeti 1250 lead-acid battery generator, Core Power power cords into the amps, otherwise all stock power cables (Note: the Yeti has been a significant system upgrade)
What's next: maybe some new production 6SN7 tubes or some quasi-mesh TJ Full Music 300Bs in the SE-1.
|