Walker Audio Prelude Record Cleaning Question -


While I am very happy with the Walker Audio Prelude record cleaning system I recently ran out of there "Ultra Pure Laboratory Grade Water" that sells for $44 for 64 oz. I started to rinse with the standard $1 a gallon distilled water in lieu of the Walker water after doing step 1 and step 2 and can not tell the difference sonically.
Has anyone gone to the extreme and compared the two types of water listed above. I have not done a direct A/B comparison between the two but just cleaning with the standard distilled water yielded very positive results and I am not sure there is much if any difference between the two water rinses but I could be wrong. Personally I feel the biggest improvement the Walker record cleaning system has over the Disc Doctor system, which I was previously using, is Step one which removes the Teflon coating on the vinyl record.
Any thoughts how critical the quality of the water is?

Johnny
42659
Thanks for your compairson Rushton between the two waters. I just recently ran out of the Walker Ultra Pure water from my first kit so I was courious if anyone else tried a A/B compairson.

I have not tried the step Four high Resoultion rinse yet. I have been very happy with the Prelude Three step process so far but I might give step four a try some time in the future.

Tom Port who sells the Walker record cleaning fluids and is very pleased with them claims to have mixed results with the Walker Step Four. He says some records sound better with it while others do not. He does not use it but many others like your self are very happy with it. I guess each person will have to try for themselfs.

Johnny
 
I'm in agreement with Hdm's post.

Having compared the Walker Prelude water with the 9800-5 NERL Diagnostics Reagent Grade water I hear no sonic difference between either used with both the old (2x water) and new (1 water + 1 hi-rez rinse) Prelude regimens and my Loricraft RCM. No special methodology is claimed that a critic would find flawless. (I do believe the new Step-4 Rinse is superior to water only.)

There is however significant cost difference based on 5 gal quantities, with the Walker and AIVS water being 8-10 times more expensive. Each box of NERL includes an analysis (cf. Rushton's pointer) and claims to meet standards for Clinical Laboratory Reagent Water. For my purposes the NERL Reagent Grade water substitutes just fine for Lloyd's water.

That there is a sonic difference between distilled water and other waters has been discussed previously in this useful thread.
 
Tim
 
With all that scrubbing and rinsing when does anyone have any time to listen to records?
Is their a good source you can buy the NERL Reagent grade water??

Google is your friend. I suggest using 'NERL 9800-5' as search terms. A quick look finds ~$32.00 on this page - don't know about shipping. Here: https://www.utechproducts.com/dept.asp?NAV=1&id=2149 There are others.

Last winter I bought a 5gal. box for $33 including shipment - I don't see that sort of deal still available, but you should be able to find it in the $40-$50 range. As far as supply houses go, the NERL water is pretty much a commodity, so I'd buy on price. While it seems like a lot, the 5 gal. box is compact and includes a spigot. Its actually quite convenient to refill your current water bottle.
 
Tim