Results from Beta Testers of New Formulas

Paul,

I've yet to receive my samples but will post my findings as soon as practical. I'm glad to be a part of the beta testing.

Slipknot1, this makes me anxious to receive my samples. It sounds promising.

Paul,

I received your products yesterday and will try to set some time aside today for testing. I'm looking forward to this exercise as I have two problematic albums I would like to make more listenable.

Rauliruegas-I have not, nor would I ever allow Wilson, Faulkner, Harley & Atkinson to make any audio decisions for me. Sounds way too much like a law firm. Besides, I've got some tubes and my own ears to go by. Just take your odd order harmonics and hum them to yourself all day long.

Raul,

I apologize if I offended you BUT you were out of line with your tube comment, IMO. I was really jokingly referring to the situation at hand with my law firm comment. I would like you to understand that I do consider myself having an open mind. Otherwise, I wouldn't be trying Paul's potential product. I fail to see how cleaning a record could be equalizing such. Some products stand in the way of the information and others let allow it to come through. I'll post my findings in an honest fashion. However, I will not insult Paul in the way I do it. I'll probably piss off a lot of people with the following comment but here goes. I get tired of attacks for no good reason. While I'm a current user of RRL products and have no ill will toward any manufacturer of record cleaning products I've not been convinced that the base water is as good as they say. Bottom line is, I don't care. If it sounds better, I'm an owner. Maybe this isn't an anal enough thought process for the superior audiophile but it has served me well for the over 35 years I've been in this hobby. Why don't we just see what the thoughts of the testers are while this thread evolves? Or, is the point of being an Audiogon member just to stir the shit? Sometimes I feel like I'd like to crawl through my DSL line just to see how big some of you audio bullies really are.

Paul,

I listened to a record I love earlier this afternoon which has some annoying surface noise yet no apparent reason for it. It has been cleaned previously using two well respected products. I used your products and there is a noticeable improvement. It's not an audiophile pressing and I can't say that anything has improved beyond reduced surface noise but I can say that the music was as detailed as before. So, in this one case I enjoyed a benefit. More cleaning and postings to follow, good or bad. Of course, time will tell, as others have suggested, if your formula degrades the vinyl. If a 12 1/2% solution containing alcohol will degrade vinyl then my entire collection is headed to the trash heap some day because most of the previous solutions I've used contained alcohol. For the record, the EQ remains the same, FWIW, IMO, YMMV, etc.

Here's my report for today. I replaced the vacuum pad on my Nitty Gritty and used two new Last brushes. I also transferred Paul's two formulas into new plastic bottles with drip spouts.

The records for this test were purchased today at an estate sale. They are:

Tony Bennett "Who Can I Turn To", Columbia CS 9085
The Doors "The Soft Parade", Elektra EKS-75005
Otis Redding "The Dock Of The Bay" Volt S-419

My usual cleaning ritual begins with wiping the records with an old cleaning brush wetted with distilled water. I then follow the directions provided by RRL with the Deep Cleaner and the Vinyl Wash using the Nitty Gritty. I did this with all three albums and listened to each very carefully, making note of areas that were problematic.

I then used Paul's formulas and followed his instructions again on the Nitty Gritty with new brushes. Additional residue was visible on the new brushes, especially the brush used to apply the enzyme fluid. This surprised me since I was very careful with the first cleanings using the RRL products. Any reasoned person would assume that there was a chance I didn't get all the grunge out of the grooves with the first cleaning. I just don't know for sure but suspect the enzyme cleaner was doing what it is supposed to do.

The results were better than I would have imagined. No, it doesn't fix scratches or vinyl defects. But, beyond a lowered noise floor more information came through. I don't think this was an imaginary phenomenon or wishful thinking on my part. It's real. The Doors album was in near perfect condition. After using the RRL products there was some (although very little) crackling in addition to the stylus in the groove noise associated with a generic American pressing of that era. After cleaning with Paul's formula there was no crackling at all. Zip, nada, nothing but stylus drag on generic vinyl.

I normally use Gruv Glide because of the felt mat lifting with the record. For these three albums I decided not to introduce Gruv Glide in the process assuming I would just deal with the hassle of a lifted felt mat to give the fairest of comparrisons. Yes, the mat lifted with the RRL products and surprise, surprise, it didn't lift with Paul's formula. Only time will tell if this is a lasting consequence of this potential product.

Small things make a difference in this hobby. A perfect example is the Tony Bennett album. On the first listen and being very familar with this album I was very pleased that I had found such a nice copy of an album that was made circa 1960. I have plans to give it as a gift. With the second listen using Paul's formulas I discoverd there were three instruments that stood out from the full orchestra more than before. They were the piano, bass and drums. This was The Ralph Sharon Trio who was Tony Bennett's touring band. It's not surprising that they were more pronounced than the rest of the musicians since it was probably recorded that way, being as they were the basis of his sound inside and outside of the recording studio. This gave the recording a layered effect in depth that we all try to find in better recordings.

I've posted many times about purification of water and believe that this formula would benefit from ultra pure water. I have access to such water locally due to friends in the computer chip manufacturing business and used it with my home brew solution prior to embracing RRL products. For the record, RRL is great stuff. I've been using their stylus cleaner for better than 15 years and consider their record cleaning products to be top drawer. Paul's two step cleaning fluids have the edge in my opinion and not by a small amount. The difference is significant but not what I would say is huge.

I have no affiliation with Paul whatsoever. I'm not going to invest in his company or attempt to become a distributor. I would like to buy some of the concentrate whenever it becomes available. I would like to use a few drops more than he suggests but since I have so little I'll continue to apply as sparingly as he suggests. I will report back on one of our dryest days to tell the crowd if the anti-static properties remain.

Dan_ed,

I started out with new Last brushes which are white for applying Paul's cleaning formulas. I first cleaned the records in my usual fashion which, IMO, is very thorough using brushes which were not new. When cleaning with Paul's stuff, I did notice more grunge on the new brushes. Understand, I don't have a lot of this fluid to waste and followed the directions to the letter. The ammount of dirt on these new brushes was not as great as you might believe from reading the above posts but it was noticeable, no doubt. I've understated my findings for fear of appearing as a shill for Paul. Again, I have no affiliation with Paul other than being a voluntary Beta tester, nor will I be entering any business relationship with him. I'd buy this stuff in a heartbeat and use it without fear but I can understand completely the concerns raised by others as far as leeching is concerned.

Unless I make some new discovery while using these fluids I'm going to end my postings to this thread with the following summary:

This stuff is good. It beats anything I've used by a wide margin. There are sonic benefits beyond reduced surface noise. The anti-static properties are a definite benefit. A little bit goes a long way. I've also found that used albums that are marginal in condition (visible scratches, poorly handled, very dirty, but don't look like they would skip) become very listenable. I've yet to clean any of my perfect audiophile pressing that I purchased new. I will do that without hesitation at some point but the excitement of otherwise noisy albums being quieted so much is where I'm concentrating my efforts. Remember, I've only got about one ounce of this stuff to play with.

For full disclosure to this group I offer the following also. I have contacted Paul requesting to buy the concentrate in whatever large quantity he would be willing to sell me. If the price was something I could afford at the time he would sell retail, I will try to buy a gallon of each. That would probably last me the rest of my life. Of course, with that kind of quantity I would be tempted to occassionaly gift a small amount to others along the way for them to try like has been done for me by other kind Audigon members.

If anyone has any questions for me I will be happy to respond to any emails or phone calls. I hope I've not appeared to "go over the top" with my recommendation but the temptation is there to do so. Again, it's that good.

I offer my congratulations also Paul. I'm glad to say that I'm now a paying customer having ordered enough to keep me cleaning records for quite some time. Best wishes...Patrick