Ask an Audio geek

[Kosh]

I would expect whatever crackle and noise there is on the vinyl ends up prominently in the rear speakers, no?

I don't even notice the clicks and pops on my vinyl (even the used stuff).  The biggest thing is to keep your vinyl clean and free of surface contaminants.  The store I buy most of my used records has a very good professional quality vinyl cleaner that they use on all their inventory.  If I buy records from a third party like craigslist, I then use a low-tech system call a spin clean that I purchased for $80.  It's mostly a one time deal.  90% of my collection I've cleaned one time.  Every record gets a couple rotations with a carbon fiber record brush before the needle hits as maintenance. 
   
Some records in heavy rotation will get additional cleanings if I'm in the process of cleaning some new stuff I've picked up.  
  
It also helps that I'm pretty fussy about the condition of the records that I buy.  Lets just say that I don't buy a lot of stuff from places like Goodwill.