Thanks for the interesting link. I guess my real problem is that I didn't spend over 6 grand for my stylus and over 20 grand for the associated equipment.

Thanks for the thoughts. Maybe I'm bothered by this "tape distortion". I doubt,even though it may be possible, there is damage from a worn needle for the following reasons: Not all tracks have this distortionThe LP looks almost unplayed...no marks near the center holeThe other LPs I bought from the same owner don't have these distortion issuesI'll try cleaning it too.

I have a question for those that have heard a real RL SS copy of Led Zep II (US Pressing) on their own system. I picked up a close-to-mint looking copy of this LP last summer at a garage sale for a couple bucks (don't hate me), but I don't seem to be having the superb audio fidelity I keep reading about. The first track on each side play very well and all of the quieter parts of the LP play well (fairly quiet between tracks), however most of the louder parts of the other tracks tend to distort and crackle. I use an Ortofon model 20 stylus at 1.5 grams on a modern turntable. Am I hearing the distortion that caused many people to return the LP back in 1969? Is this just the status quo for this LP, and if so, I'm surprised this distortion doesn't get mentioned since it sure distracts from the overall sound quality IMO. Is it possible the album was played in the past on a defective stylus? Do I just happen to have a defective copy? I never cleaned the LP since it looks very clean already...would cleaning it help? I read somewhere that the distortion sometimes heard on this LP is due to the large amount of sonic information packed into these master grooves (I know, there is only one groove.) makes it difficult to reproduce on many, even modern systems. Any thoughts on my crackle issues of this RL SS pressing? Jack