I finally got a record cleaning machine. First thoughts.
As I previously mentioned, I was given a load of 78 RPM records which are filthy mandating a cleaning device if I want to play them. After months studying the situation I opted to get a Clearaudio Double Matrix Pro Sonic. A lightly used one came up so I jumped on it. Why this machine and not an ultrasonic cleaner? Several reasons. It uses fresh fluid for each cleaning and discards the waste. It sucks everything off the record. Even distilled water will leave a residue if it is dried by an evaporative method. It uses mechanical scrubbing which my instinct prefers over ultrasound. There is an ongoing argument over what ultrasound will do to shellac. The Clearaudio has a reputation for being very well made and it is.
As for it's performance the Double Matrix is fast, quiet and very effective. The fact that it does not drip fluid all over the place is amazing. Records come off spotless and bone dry. You can play them right off the machine. You can tell that each and every function of the machine was carefully thought out.
After cleaning new records that were played once before cleaning, there is no change in noise levels and there is no difference in sound quality. However, there is a noticeable improvement in turntable hygiene! There is always dust on new and old records. I see it when I clean my sweep arm between sides on black felt. Now there is all but zero and everything under the dust cover stays cleaner. THERE IS A MARKED REDUCTION IN STATIC! Vacuum platters will create huge amounts of static under dry conditions but every single record I washed develops none that I can notice. I am not sure why this should be the case but it is. Play a record not washed then static. Play a washed record then no static. The fluid I am using for vinyl records is a proprietary formula of distilled water, Triton X-100, Isopropyl alcohol and benzalkonium chloride. Obviously, this is not the formula to clean shellac, you'd melt it. In one week I am going to replay some of these records to see if the anti static effect is durable or not. My guess is it won't be. You might ask, why benzalkonium chloride? Fungus can live on vinyl. BAK is antiseptic. It also has surfactant properties.
Lastly, after playing 10 records that had just been wash I inspected my stylus under magnification and there was no residue on it meaning that the fluid and cleaning process left nothing in the groove the stylus could pick up.
Next I am going to clean some old really filthy LPs I got with the 78s and see how much I can bring them back.
I have never cleaned new records. My sweep arm collected any dust removing it from the path of the stylus and for decade this worked well. But, I am a clean freak and I like not having to clean the turntable after a listening session. After playing a record, once the vacuum released on removing the record I would frequently get a loud pop or two when the static on the bottom of the record arced to ground. The sweep arm discharged the top of the record during play so none of this affected the sound quality. Static does not turn 180 degree corners. However, it is nice not to have any static at all. So, there are positive attributes to cleaning records that go beyond reducing noise and improving sound quality. It is also fun to watch the Double Matrix do its thing. Worth $6500 for a new one? Only if you have extra money lying around or like buying used records.
OK, now you can beat me up:-)
Last week I took a couple of baroque records to a friends place to listen to his new Van Den Hul Grand Cru and top of the line VDH phono stage - both of the records I bought in the early 80's, played a lot ( I use to use one for VTA ), absolutely dead quiet, zero ticks and pops and they have never been cleaned - ever - nor treated for static or anything else. |
@mijostyn clearly a person who has worked on cartridges for over 40 years knows less than you 😉. |
It's interesting to read all the opinions and theories as well as all the "facts" from the "experts". I'll stick to my experience. My experience is that the amount of difference the record cleaner makes depends primarily on the record itself. I have a VPI HW 16.5 vacuum cleaner and a KLAUDIO LP200 ultrasonic cleaner. I've had and used the VPI for a few years. The LP200 is a fairly recent acquisition. If you buy used records, I recommend a record cleaning machine. You never know what might be on them. There may be very little to no difference in sound quality after cleaning or there may be a dramatic difference. It depends on the record and how it was cared for. The previous owner may have cleaned it or it may have started life as a very clean record and been well cared for. If you buy only new records, you may still benefit from a record cleaning machine. They often show up in crappy paper liners with lots of dust on them. Sometimes the pressing itself is bad, with lots of noise, ticks, and pops. No amount of cleaning can fix a poorly pressed record. On the other hand, more than once I've plopped a brand new record on the table before cleaning it and have been really surprised at how much better (quieter) it sounded after cleaning. As mentioned by some, cleaning seems to help with static. My vacuum machine and my ultrasonic machine both do a great job. There are pros and cons to each. The VPI cost a lot less than the LP200. It's much faster to clean a record. The LP200 is fully automated, but takes much longer (9 minutes) to clean and dry a record. The LP200 takes up a little less space. The LP200 only needs distilled water, which while cheap, has been in short supply at times recently. The VPI uses special cleaning solution, which is relatively inexpensive. I like the Audio Intelligent one-step #6. Some folks use multiple solutions/passes with their vacuum machines. Both machines are loud. Since the LP200 is fully automatic, you can walk away from it and have it in another room. As far as my practices, I'm not a fanatic about record cleaning. I always clean used records, other than some from one of my local record stores that cleans their records with a VPI. I generally don't clean new records unless they are obviously dirty or don't sound good on first play. If a record looks particularly bad, I may use both machines, using the vacuum machine first to get most of the junk off and then a bath in the US cleaner. I've been gifted some records that looked like they should have been garbage, but actually played decent after a good cleaning. For me, there's no one size fits all approach to record cleaning. You certainly aren't going to hurt your records by cleaning all of them before play, but it may not be necessary with all of them. Some may not benefit from cleaning at all. Some will sound dramatically better. As I said at the beginning, it depends on the record itself more than anything. |
good advice. I decided to start from A and go from there. I used a cleaning method I saw on positive feedback - it’s a 2 stage process and I clean my stylus at the end of a record side as advised by the guy at expert stylus. Life’s too short to build up my expertise on cleaning. I am happy to take advice from someone who is a trustworthy boffin 👨🏫 |
