Loud Hissing Noise

What does it mean when you get a loud hissing noise while playing a record? Worn record?
Needle cutting in?

There is a snake in the works--probably angry too !!
Is the "hissing" still there when you lift the needle off the record ??
Ron Rich

No. just when a certain couple of records are played.
I also noticed after the play that a filmy residue is left on the record and needle.
Could the needle be ruining the vinyl? Other records play nice and clear.

I would say that you have discovered a clue--buy a new needle, check tracking force before you play anymore records--
Ron Rich

Could it be that the records that are causing a problem be ruined from another player?

Another clue--possible--- Ron Rich

Once the records are ruined, they will continue hissing after the new stylus is installed.

Note that some mono records made before 1960 hiss anyway when played in stereo. Use the mono switch to remove this.

I tried these same problem records on a different player and the noise is still there.
That tells me that those certain records were ruined from someone elses player. These records were bought used.

There are several possibilities:

1. The records were played with a bad stylus, the wrong stylus, or an acoustic player.

2. The records were made that way. Some budget labels (e.g. Pickwick) hiss when first purchased. Recycled vinyl was often a cause.

3. Mono records made before the stereo record was invented hiss in stereo. Manufacturers didn't try to remove noise in the vertical direction before then. That's why the stereo-mono switch exists. Use it.

4. A stereo record was played with a mono cartridge with no vertical compliance. This damaged the vertical part of the recording. It will play OK in mono, but not stereo.

5. The records were left in the sun. The sound quality often suffers before the record warps. I have one record that was left in its jacket in a place where the sun shined on half of it. It has a once-around hiss. Note that an entire shipment of records could be ruined if left in a semitrailer sitting in the sun for a long period.

6. Foreign matter is in the grooves.

7. The record was cleaned with something that damaged the grooves. Often, a styrene, filled vinylite, or shellac record was cleaned with a solution containing ethanol that didn't affect true vinyl records. This is why you have to be careful to choose the proper product for cleaning the records.