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:-)
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 👨🏫 |
@juanmanuelfangioii , The contact area of an elliptical stylus is 20.6 um2. Let's play it at 2gm. That would be 1.5500031 e-9 inches squared and 0.00440925 pounds = 28,451 psi . Now the contact area of a fine line stylus like the replicant 100 is twice that of an elliptical but Ortofon tracks them higher around 2.5 gm which would put the psi figure around 18,000 psi. This is how modern cartridges get away with much higher VTFs than the old elliptical cartridges of the 70's when 3/4 to 1 gram tracking forces were the norm. The bullet would be modern styluses decrease record wear even at the higher VTFs |
@lohanimal , I have followed my styluses with microscopy for decades. I even now own a WallyScope so I can publish pictures and I will when time allows. It does not take an expert to see dirt on a stylus. Another point is phonograph cartridges are extremely simple devices and all the math is at least a century old. The only difficulty is all the parts are extremely small and what you can't see is always subject to all sorts of alchemy. You want complicated? Take a look at a GE 90 jet engine. I just timed the Double Matrix. It takes a second over 2 minutes to clean a record. Actually, it should be clean and treat a record. I mention the fact that records cleaned with the solution I am using will not hold a large static charge but using digitized needle drops on the same brand new album before and after cleaning demonstrates a slight reduction in the back ground rushing noise. Tics and pop are exactly the same. A very small amount of something is being left on the record. I have an idea what it is and I am beginning to think this is proprietary information. What a laugh, me marketing a record cleaning solution. It is indeed a strange world. |
@mijostyn Thank you for those calculations. Enjoyed it and the conversation.
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