Liquid Stylus Cleaners


I know that some of the cartridge makers, including Soundsmith, say not to use liquids and many of you don’t. From a manufacturer’s standpoint, I can definitely understand why - god only knows what some of us dopes (including myself) will be swabbing on there. I have used LP#9 after every side since 2005 when I returned to vinyl, and never had a problem. And I haven’t been surgically careful either. I do use a lighted magnifier to see what I’m doing, but I’ve brushed crap off the cantilever and never had anything migrate into the cartridge or experienced any of these horror stories I hear. So IMO at least, these warnings about liquids are somewhat exaggerated. Do you use them?

 

chayro

Showing 1 response by whart

I’ve largely avoided liquids but when I had Lyra cartridges, they promoted a liquid so I used it periodically but mainly relied on dry brushing.

I stopped using any dunk-em type cleaner- whether the Zerodust (which, to me didn’t do much more than a dry brush), Magic Eraser (which could really get the crud off) of any of the Blu-stuff that Peter L. recommends. Why?

I don’t want to unnaturally torque the cantilever assembly- that pulling down when dunking now gives me the willies. I have no anecdotal reports of mishaps, but I don’t want one either with the cost of high end cartridges today.

I dry brush using a brush with longer softer bristles than the typical stylus "pad" type brush. I did buy some AIVS liquid stylus cleaner that I’ve used once. I keep an eye on the stylus using loupes and magnifying glasses.