2. analog
  3. 1405984735

Spin Clean seems to add noise to records?

Hi,
On the strength of good reviews and enthusiastic forum comments, I recently purchased a Spin Clean record cleaning system and cleaned around 20 records with it. I'm a little perplexed.
On the positive side, music sounds great: clearer, more "alive" and more dynamic. On the negative, I'd swear that quiet parts of the record, e.g., the lead in groove and and pauses between songs, sound noisier: more clicks and pops. This doesn't seem to be what a cleaner record should sound like!
Could I be doing something wrong? I've followed the directions carefully. And I could certainly see blackish crud settling to the bottom of the chamber.
The only ambiguous part is how to hold the record when you dry it off with the drying cloths. I tried holding it upright and gently wiping both sides, but that seemed to risk stressing and bending the vinyl disc. I also tried laying it on a table on top of a clean towel or a couple of the drying cloths and then wiping the top surface dry.
Let me also mention that I am using distilled water, and that I have read the "noisy records" item in Spin Clean's FAQ, here:

http://www.spincleanrecordwasher.com/faq.html#15
Eager for your thoughts and advice.
rebbi
valinar
473 posts
 
Rebbi,
Yes, I did a comparison on the Dylan record I mentioned in my earlier post. I brought the record home, removed it from the sleeve, and played it without any prior cleaning. Maybe a pop here and there, nothing out of the ordinary. After cleaning it with Spin Clean the static noise problem arose.
Tablejockey,
The Mapleshade brush is supposed to arrive today via UPS. I will see if that helps. Even if it doesn't I have been wanting the brush for some time,as I think it is a good addition to a vinyl set up.
dswee372
1 posts
 
Valinar,

I had the same problem, and I understand your frutration. Clicks and pops increased after using the Spin Clean. Same thing happened with the old D3 cleaner from RCA as well At the time, I was using an Ortofon OMP10 cartridge. I upgraded to a cartridge with a Shibata stylus, and the popping stopped. I don't know why, but the thinner stylus removed the problem. I also didn't hear the pops on a nude elliptical stylus.
If you do not want to upgrade your stylus, you may want to rinse the LP once more with distilled water, but use a brush or clean micro-fiber towel rather than the Spin Clean for the final rinse. The good news is, I found the pops after using the Spin Clean will go away after you play the LP through a couple of times.

Hope this helps.
fusian
129 posts
 
I’ve found a two-stage Spin Clean regimen works for me; clean as directed, then empty the basin, refill with only distilled water, clean the brushes, and clean records again in this rinse.

Allow records to air dry (if environment is not particularly dusty).

This has solved my crackly Spin Clean problems.
mesch
3,492 posts
 
Great thread! I also have had this problem with Spin clean. Will try the various options mentioned to solve and get back. Thanks to all.
ebm
9,311 posts
 
You get what you pay for the KL Audio is the best by far not cheap though.I cleaned the same record on VPI 17F and the KL Audio record sounded much better after a cleaning on KL Audio.
More to discover