Magnetization & Demagnetization any conclusions?


Does the furutech improve sound? Does a record have the potential to become magnetized- and how easily??
I am planning on adding magnets to the bottom of my platter and the top of my plinth to take some weight off of the bearing. Then it occured to me, am I going to start introducing a magnetic charge to my records and cartridge?
Anyone have an idea how far is safe for a magnet to be before it starts to influence other materials? At this point I have 4 3/4 between the magnet and the record.
Thanks
pedrillo
Sirspeedy, the Talisman comes with Lloyd Walker's satisfaction guarantee. If you're not satisfied with what it does for you, send it back to Lloyd within 30 days in original condition and he'll refund your purchase price. (I recommend buying directly from Walker Audio, payment by check only.) Not much downside risk here.

As to use, I use it with the LP on the turntable and follow Lloyd's instructions (posted on his web site), keeping the Talisman always in my left hand well away from the cartridge.
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SirSpeedy,

I have used the Talisman. It works, though probably not as well as the (more powerful) Furutech.

I used it as instructed by Walker and described by Rushton. It would indeed work just as well away from the TT and I agree that would be safer. Good suggestion.

I now use an AC-powered machine tools demagnifier. It's vastly more powerful than a Talisman and notably more effective too. Probably similar to a Furutech, since it's the same technology. Mine's a bit tricky to use and it would destroy a cartridge in a heartbeat, so I'm reluctant to recommend it on a public forum.

As Mothra said, you don't want to use these high powered magnetic devices anywhere near a cartridge (or other components). We demag our discs in another room, well away from the system. It's no hardship since with a field this strong they apparently need treating only once, as Furutech also claims. We demag before cleaning so there's really no time spent at all. I demag several discs while one is on the RCM.

Doug
I asked Mapleshade about this very question and am posting the very interesting answer

Dear Stanley,

Walker's Talisman, like all demagnetizing devices (i.e. Bedini, Furutech, etc.), attempts to address the same problem as our Ionoclast, that is, the problem of static build up. I used super-powerful demagnetizers on my CDs for years--until my experiments showed that the demagnetizers are only an indirect way of dealing with the static problem, rather than a direct antidote for a magnetic problem that turned out to be non-existent.
Contrary to what the designers of demagnetizers usually claim, our experiments showed that there are NO significant ferrous (and therefore magnetizable) traces on CDs or LPs. So why do the demagnetizers have a slightly beneficial effect on the sound of CDs or LPs? Unbeknownst to their designers, they work because magnetic fields have the ability to move (and spread out) the "clumps" of static charge that build up on surface of the disc's plastic. It is the static (and its attendant electrostatic fields), not the non-existent magnetic charges, that degrade the sound of CDs and LPs.
Note that a magnetic field has NO ability to neutralize a static charge. Magnetic fields can only force clumps of static to move--and, in the process of moving, to spread out and become less concentrated. That spreading out lowers and smooths out the local concentrations of the electrostatic field caused by the static clumps. But magnetic forces can never change the TOTAL static energy stored on a CD or LP. That's why the beneficial effects of demagnetizers are always fairly weak.
To actually neutralize the static clumps on a disc can only be done by introducing charged particles (that is, ions) of the opposite charge. This is exactly how industrial static neutralizers (for instance, those on all electronic chip production lines) work: they blow streams of air charged with high concentrations of both plus and minus ions over the moving chips on the line. Any charged static clump on the chips will immediately start attracting ions of the opposite sign--and will keep on attracting them until the clump has totally neutralized itself with opposite charge ions. The air stream's neutralizing ions (i.e., charged molecules of air) are generated by electrodes creating high voltage (10,000 to 50,00 volt) discharges.
That's exactly how our Ionoclast works: every trigger squeeze causes a small internal piezo-electric generator to generate a 30,000 to 50,000 volt spark discharge across the two electrodes in the tip of the Ionoclast, a plus discharge on the downstroke and a minus discharge on the release stroke. Thus, there's a sizable cloud of plus and minus ionized air molecules created around the spark gap--and, by moving the Ionoclast tip across the surface of the CD or LP, you trail this cloud over every static clump and the disc becomes 100% neutralized.
The proof of the pudding is in the listening test. Take a CD that's charged with lots of static and listen to one minute of it. Then treat it with the Talisman or Bedini or Furutech. Listen again and you'll hear some improvement. Now neutralize it (both sides) with our Ionoclast. You'll hear at least an additional three times the improvement you heard with the Talisman!
Curiously enough, if you Ionoclast-neutralize a CD, listen to it, then re-treat it afterwards with a Talisman or Bedini or Furutech, you'll hear that the demagnetizers make the re-treated disc sound just a bit WORSE than the Ionoclast-neutralized disc. I am baffled to find an explanation for this, but the effect is quite repeatable.
If you need further clarification or detail, feel free to call me at 410 867-7543.

Pierre


On Jan 4, 2008, at 8:53 AM, Stanley Green wrote:

Does your Ionocast and the Walker Talisman do the same thing?
This discussion is interesting enough that I've spoken to both a plastics chemist that I've know and worked with since 1979, and a physicist that I've know for over 20 years who has helped me with my product lines. They both indicate the same thing that Pierre Sprey has stated.

Having never used any of the demagnitizing tools I can't comment on what they do based on personal experience. However, I've used the Ionoclast myself for several years. I bought it because my Milty quit working. I can say with a great deal of certainty that the Ionoclast is better than the Milty and is about half the price.

Jim Pendleton
Osage Audio Products, LLC