Is this the solution to LP static issues?? Seems to be!


Last night i was listening to a superb original RCA white dog pressing of Lena Horne and Harry Belafonte ( if you can source this, i highly recommend it!) 
I noticed that all of my prior LP's were exhibiting considerable static attraction to my felt mat on my LP12. Not this one!!! How come, since the LP was played at the same time as the others, in the same system, the same room temperature etc.?? I noticed on the cover of the album the following large sticker: Miracle Surface, This record contains the revolutionary new antistatic ingredient, 317X, which helps keep the record dust free, helps prevent surface noise, helps insure faithful sound reproduction on Living Stereo.  

Whatever this additive is that was put on this album back in 1959 sure works well!! Anyone know what 317X is?? Why are we NOT using this stuff today??
128x128daveyf
@whart Thanks Bill. I think the amazing thing is that we all probably have quite a few RCA’s with this stuff added to the vinyl. I know I do.Reading your link, seems to imply that some kind of off-setting electrical charge was added in the formulation...an intriguing idea. ( I can tell you, whatever it is, it was working like a charm yesterday!) However, yesterday was the first time that I was playing one of these albums and noticed the marked improvement in static reduction. BTW, most of these original White/ Shaded dog LP’s do sound very good, with or without the Miracle Surface. The ability for the LP to have reduced static attraction must be beneficial to the SQ, as RCA was claiming. I wonder why the coating ( or whatever it is) was discontinued in the record industry? It would seem to me to be pretty beneficial to the potential SQ, and since we now have various reissue labels going to One Step’s, UHQR’s, SRX formulation and the like...wouldn’t an old solution like 317x be something for them to consider? ( assuming of course that the identity of 317x isn’t lost in time!).
Davey- I suspect these days, very little plastic is made Stateside due to EPA, OSHA, etc. Some of it is probably pretty nasty, but I’m not a materials scientist or chemist so I couldn’t tell you. A lot apparently comes from Thailand.
My impression is that the special formulations are ordered in the same way that the meat packers in Manhattan used to use a particular mix of chuck, short rib, brisket, and sirloin for burgers for specific restaurants- everyplace that charged 15 bucks plus for a burger claimed they had a proprietary recipe.
I have a few of each of these new formulations and I guess they were fine, maybe I didn’t play the records enough to appreciate them. Even though I have mixed views about the sound of the old MoFi releases, that formulation was, to me, just superb. It had to withstand the rigors of losing the high frequency carrier for discrete 4 channel and though that never really had a market, it made a marvelous stereo record. I played some of those records to death back in the day and they are still flawless. There’s another mystery-- what was in the JVC super vinyl? That stuff was resilient as hell.
I don’t have too many issues with static given how I clean and handle- all in bare feet, but I know it can be a bear. The central heating in the NE only made it worse when the humidity would drop during the winter. At one point, I talked to an old hand at vinyl compounding and he said, "mold release" what the hell are you talking about. And so it goes....
Bill, interesting question, what was in the JVC super vinyl? I was always intrigued by the fact that you could hold one up to a light source and see through the vinyl. This is apparently similar now to what is utilized in the newer MoFi one step vinyls. All of this is certainly somewhat beneficial to the SQ, but a formulation in the vinyl to knock down static is certainly a great idea, IME... and no one seems to be using anything like this anymore.