Clearaudio Double Smart Matrix or Loricraft PRC4

Dan,

In our experience, the majority of LP's have some amount of that blurring veil. We agree that it behaves exactly like a thin layer of some contaminant (or lubricant) and it's difficult to remove.

"Was it the enzymes or was it the extra soak?"

In our experience it's the enzymes. We tried scrubbing and soaking many LP's with multiple non-enzyme fluids (AIVS and others) to no avail. It was always the enzyme step that did the trick. If they aren't used first that veiling layer isn't "loosened" enough for other fluids to work. Unfortunately, enzymes require extended soak times. Unavoidable but certainly a bummer.

Since most LP's have such a layer we clean every one with the full regimen, starting with AIVS #1 Enzymatic. For us it feels faster to do it well the first time than to hope a shortcut will suffice, then end up recleaning anyway. (Been there, tried that, hated it.)

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Completely agree with Mark that more effective fluids and *some* RCM, well used, will outclean less effective fluids and a "better" RCM. By definition, a less effective fluid is one that doesn't dissolve or suspend all contaminants. With such a fluid the record won't be clean no matter how well we vacuum it, though it will be really, really dry.

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We use AIVS #15 as a pre-clean step for especially dirty looking records (which we never intentionally buy, but one slips in now and then). It works well. Others use it instead of Enzymatic or even instead of #1, 2 and 3, following only with a pure water rinse or two. We signed up for the full masochistic plan long ago and now we're too old to change. ;-)

Yes, I used to use a similar regimen. I think I got lucky on a few records, adopted a short cut, and then sang myself to sleep. So to speak. :-)

Update, received my new Loricraft PRC4 w/walnut veneer last week.

Nice looking pce, over all very happy with the fit and finish and it's so easy to use. Allot quieter than my friends PRC3, does a great job. I like being able to have options of how I decide to clean my records and with all the info. on this thread provides me with such THX!

Congratulations, Dev. I have the PRC4 in cherry. It's a great machine, but my stack of uncleaned LPs is growing because I spend all my time listening and not cleaning. One word of caution: if you follow the advice in the manual and suck up one spoonful of alcohol at the end of each cleaning session to keep the tubes clean, beware of dripping the alcohol on the record mat. I found that the chemicals in the AVIS or the alcohol turns the black mat slightly lighter. Mine is now very uneven in color, but the functionality is unchanged.

Peterayer thx, I decided to just use distilled water and a little more than the spoonful. My thought is all this product already being inside the tubes so using the distilled water should flush it out doing the job.

After exsperiencing the over all sonic difference along with seeing the crud in the jar and all from new recordings well it's a no brainer for me, nothing gets played until cleaned. Knowing and seeing what I have now I would not want to put my stylus on any record unless cleaned.