2. analog
  3. 1124430620

battling the pops and clicks

I recently put together an vinyl rig (Nottingham Horizon w/Dynavector 10x5 and Whest phono stage) I am really liking the sound, and I see what all the talk is about for sure. This setup really gives my Ayre D1xe digital setup a run for the money, and if it weren't for the pops and clicks I think I would certainly prefer the sound overall. This is saying a lot considering the price gap between my digital and analog setup.

I have the VPI 16.5 and disc doctor brushes and cleaning fluids and have spent some time and effort to fully clean my records in an effort to eliminate all noise. I bought quite a few new 180 gram records so I would have a good idea of what sound vinyl has to offer. I also have plenty of dusty old records from years back, which is the real reason I wanted a turntable to begin with. As much as I work at cleaning the records, it seems no amount of work will eliminate the pops and clicks. The more I focus on trying to get rid of them the more it bugs me. It seems to happen just as much with the new records as the old ones.

What I'm wondering is, do I need a better table and cartridge if I expect to listen to records with total silence? Or what am I doing wrong with my current setup? I've followed the cleaning instructions very closely and even taken it a step further by adding additional rinsing cycles with distilled water. I've used stylus cleaner and of course always used the carbon fibre dry brush before playing, and clean sleeves too.

The cleaning has reduced the noise, pops and clicks greatly, but in my opinion, more is still there than I would consider acceptable. Is this something that you just learn to tune out from or is there a way to fix it completely?

thanks, -Ryan
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Showing 1 response by am_dial

am_dial
35 posts
 
Though a few posters have commented on your cleaning regimen, and though I'm not entirely clear if your phrase "disc doctor brushes and cleaning fluids" implies that your cleaning fluids are DD brand as well, I'd focus on that as a possible culprit. Hopefully I won't turn this thread into another referendum on the virtues/problems of various fluids, but I would suggest trying a few other brands.

When I bought my used VPI 16.5 on this site, the seller included some DD brushes and DD fluids with the sale. I diluted the DD fluid as specified and also used a distilled water rinse (sometimes up to three such rinses) after using the fluid. I found that I had some improvement, though I also often had pops and clicks, and often this was the case on fairly new LPs that had played much better before I cleaned them. Like you, I was frustrated that the cleaning wasn't doing as much as I expected it to, so I began using two other varieties of cleaning fluids quite popular in this forum. Both of these fluids are much less "sudsy" than I found the DD fluids, and neither requires the use of distilled water as a rinse. No offense to those who prefer the DD fluids, but my vinyl has never sounded better to me. (There are plenty of past threads about various cleaning fluids and theories about distilled water, etc., if you check the archives.)

Hope this helps.
Joshua
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