How to Remove MONSTER CD rings without damage


Back in the late 80's Monster Cable had a gimmick for CD rings to supposely help the laser read more accurately. I fell for it just like the Audiquest marker, etc. The Monster ring would stick on the perimeter of the CD. But they don't just peel off almost 20 years later.

Does anyone know how to remove these MONSTER CD rings without damaging the CD itself ?

I have about a dozen or so CDs with these rings on them. Worried that they could damage my delicate CD transport and players because it doubles the weight of the disc

Thank you to all who help.
Joe
joefama
they don't peel off. they also won't hurt the performance of the disc. you shouldn't worry about it at this point. if it is a big concern, replace the discs. i still have discs with them on, and they do help stabilize the disc, which i assume translates into better sound.
steve
They will peel off, you just have to get your fingernails under them from the inside and keep plugging. Once you are able to one small part of them up a little bit the rest of them follows easily. They really don't hurt anything by their additional weight, so don't worry about that, but when I was putting some of my CDs into my music server they were sometimes coming loose, which messed things up. I also found a disadvantage to them in that they could get stuck in a car CD player. So I'm removing them as I bring the older CDs down to be burned, it takes a little work but most of them come off fairly easily once you get the hang of it.
If they peel, and leave residue this will come off real easy with Goo Gone, local walgreens or whatever.. Spray goo gone on a paper towel fold up nice and just pinch the paper towel over the edge and rub it off.. This will not hurt the CD, and on the very edge will cause no scratches or damage, just dry off with a dry toilet paper or whatever when done.
Not familiar with the rings, but, if it is held on with a pressure sensitive adhesive (tape).... "Bestine" is a good adhesive solvent used is the Crafts and Graphic Arts trades. Kerosene would probably work as well.

WARNING - Neither should affect the acrylic coating on the disk, but I am not sure of the silkscreened labeling/printing (I think that is how the printing is applied). I don't think it will affect the printing but, test on a less than precious CD first.
HTH - Jim
Been there, done that!

* * W A R N I N G! * * The biggest concern is the label side because some of the coatings that were used will be removed if done improperly. This means not only the silkscreened label but also the aluminium refective layer too. Once the reflective layer is gone, the cd becomes a glass coaster.

I did my cds (~ 300 about 10 years ago) and ended up losing three cds. The trick is to warm up the ring with a hair dryer on the lowest setting before picking at it with your fingernail. As it starts to lift off, continue to apply heat and monitor removal progress to make sure it will come off. I did get all of mine off. A royal pain to do because it's a slow & easy effort.

Yes, it will leave a residue and goo gone or lighter fluid will take it off. However, some of the silkscreening ink may come off too.

If I were you, I would burn copies of all of them before removing rings. Burning was not available to me when I did my removal project and it took me years to repurchase the ruined cds because they were OOP cds.

Good luck,
L