@audiodwebe , it's the BS that gets people to buy their stuff. It worked, at least for this special population however many of us there are. It is called marketing and it makes sense even if it is not necessarily reality.
Di I really need to clean my LP's?
Recently, when announcing to a relative my intent to use a recently purchased Spin-Clean Record Washer on some LP’s, of which I am the original owner and which have not been played in decades, her reply was, “If you’ve always handled them correctly, and stored them in their sleeves, why do you need to clean them?” I think that this is a very good question. Is there a good reason for me to clean them?
Showing 5 responses by mijostyn
"unless you wear a clean suit in a clean room, you need to clean." @emrofsemanon , That is wrong. For decades all I used was a conductive sweep arm and a dust cover during play. Some dust remained in the run out area. I would still be doing this had I not been given a bunch of 78s which were fungus infected filthy. |
@emrofsemanon , I have been doing this since the age of four. My first record was a Howdy Doody song book compilation. I still sign one of the songs to myself once in a while. I have been through all stages of record care from complete destruction (by modern standards) within 10 plays ( remember those ceramic cartridges that track at 5 grams) to records that seem immortal. I have gone through all stages of record care from doing absolutely nothing through the Discwasher/Zerostat days on into conductive sweep arms, a Spin Clean and now a Clearaudio Double Matrix. As you can tell if you look at my woodworking skill I am an anal perfectionist. You have to be to produce work like that, goes with the territory. If your jackets are clean and not a depository for dust (you always have to change them) and you brush any incidental dust off the record before or during and after play. Assuming you are not buying used records and you cartridge is appropriately set up you do not need to go any farther unless you live in a horrendous environment with cigarette smoke, cooking fumes or other pollution. What people seen in their dirty water is predominantly surface dust that could easily have been removed by other means. Having said all this since I have been using the Double Matrix general hygiene around the turntable has been better. My sweep arm hardly ever picks up anything and no dust collects on the mat or table itself which is nice. Am I improving the life span of my records? I do not think so. Is it worth $6500? Absolutely not. Is it worth $3000? I do not think so. I also always play with my dust cover down. I will NEVER buy a turntable without a dust cover. I consider them mandatory. As I have said on numerous occasions with good record handling skills, clean anti static sleeves, a dust cover, a pollution free environment and a $30.00 conductive sweep arm, assuming you are not buying used records, you can get away just fine. |