Record-playing Rituals?

Chazzbo - Mikey Fremer is talking about a reverse osomosis system NOT laboratory (a.k.a. pharmaceutical) grade water. To purify the water some people will put the same water repeatedly through the RO process 5 or 6 times to remove impurities. Very weird but OK (I guess) if you have the time.

EVERYONE - you simply MUST try STEAM cleaning! No matter what system you use - even if it is dish soap, dishwasher soap, or a "let dry & peel" technique. Steaming, with the best water you can get, is for EVERYONE and does a wonderful "finish" job as well. The Egyptian cotton terri cloth for drying is a really nice added touch too! However a common wooden dish rack will work nicely as well. For those that worship at the altar of self-appointed Pooh-bah and vinyl techno-Shaman Mikey Fremer, steaming is one of the things he wants the purist water for (as well as mixing). But REMEMBER, Mikey did NOT discover steam cleaning LPs - Charlie Rehm DID!

AS FOR EVERY TIME I PLAY A RECORD - jury is still out on the minimalist approach but carbon LP brush and a stylus brush swipe seem necessary. HOWEVER, reducing static (which is level dependent upon Relative Humidity) is a biggie but I still need to perform empirical testing with measurable data to be certain what is easiest yet very effective.

Where you are at - 45-55% RH in the entire home is fine for guitars, books, wood, etc. 30% is very low and HUGE static problems arise as well as drying out pretty much everything. Above 70% is just too moist and you may start having mold & moisture problems but probably need 75%+ for that.

So given the largess of you environment it sounds like you are doing GREAT to keep it at 45% RH during the winter (overall). HOWEVER...55-65% in the small area around your turntable area is ideal. I find below 55% RH things start to sound worse due to static build-up and a bit of a drying of other things in the vinyl playback chain.

BEAR IN MIND THOUGH that this is done to mitigate static so at 50-55% RH you can do fine WITHOUT local humidification BUT you need to mitigate static charge build-up. I am trying to investigate this as we head into the winter months. This is why I started a thread inquiring about the NEW Dust Bug performance.

Bear in mind that there are several factors involved - turntable drive type, platter material, platter finish, mat material and vinyl cleaning methods and products used. So this is why everyone has varying degrees of the impact of this problem. Unfortunately my TT materials are pretty bad from a triboelectric perspective so I need to figure out what mitigation options are optimal. Right now I am using local humidity and ionic treatment to keep the problem in check. Humidity has a host of ancillary benefits so it's not a bad way to do it but it's always best to identify all the "static generators" in any system set-up.

Latest empirical data findings:

1) Carbon brush imparts a negative charge on LPs.
2) Static gun (Discwasher) produces produces + (positive) ions on trigger pull and - (negative) ions on trigger release.
3) In lower than 50% RH Static guns WILL charge the LP surface and can produce localized charge regions on LP playing surface side ESPECIALLY if used only 2-3" from record surface (a.k.a. "can do more harm than good if not used in the proper application").
4) To minimize any localized charging on playing surface (i.e. from static gun usage) in environments below 45% RH sweep record with carbon brush. At worst, it will impart a slight negative charge to the LP.
5) At 50% RH or higher it is VERY difficult for the LP to hold a static charge! This also coincides with best music playback (NOT a coincidence!). This also helps the cartridge to perform as well as to last.

"The best way to experience music is to lose your mind and come to your senses."