CD Tweaks: An Update

Not too long ago, after finding that several of my older discs were still outlined in green from the early 1980s. Had any scientific justification developed for this practice?

Sorry. Thanks for playing,” was the answere, delivered quickly by multiple sources. I retreated to the corner. But buddyboy1, with whom I have never worked before, said that a coating of Armor-All made an audible difference for the better. “The difference isn’t subtle,” wrote this fearless tweaker. As I remember, he didn’t give a long scientific explanation but long experience told him that the coating on the disc made a significant improvement.

I read that post sympathetically. First, back in the day when we were all gluing ostrich feathers onto the discs, I remember trying Arnor-All and getting good results. More importantly, when one of my discs develops some kind of hiccup, I wash it in the kitchen sink with Dawn, Cascade, whatever is around. Not only does this fix the problem 97 percent of the time the music sounds better. The soap must leave some kind of coating on the disc

I’ve considered washing the whole collection but not only would that be a major pain in the ass but I would that risk ridicule. Especially from any any audiophile who might see me in action.

But with buddyboy’s unknown moral support, I’ve returned to Armor-All. I paid extra for the original formula—as I used circa 1983—and am applying it as the discs are played, which avoids a huge block of time being spent on the project. It also let’s me test each disc as it is applied/played. As buddyboy said, the difference is not subtle. Play a disc before it’s coated and compere it to the coated disc. You’ll notice a difference.

Just about every disc sounds better. And I say “just about” only out of editorial habit which teaches never to use a superlative. I think the biggest difference is found on poorly recorded discs which are almost elevated to Rudy Van Gelder quality.

I’m not listener enough to pinpoint the difference. Does it sound better on the 250 hertz low midrange notes? I’m sorry. I can’t speak to that issue. But the Armor-All coated discs just generally sound better. The difference is not subtle. It’s not like changing but it’s there. And it seems like this $8 bottle will last me a lifetime.