Norm: You can use a simple microscope for viewing your own stylus. After all, if you can look at paramecium using one of these things, you can surely see a small hunk of diamond with one.
As far as record cleaning goes, i'm talking about a REAL "deep cleaning" and then general maintenance after that. By deep cleaning, one would use cleaning solvents that are scrubbed into the grooves, removal of the offending solvents and grunge via vacuum removal and then a thorough rinsing using distilled / highly purified water with further vacuum removal. While this may sound like a lot of work, you only have to do it ONE time per disc and that's about it.
As far as linear tracking tables go, i wasn't referring to a Pioneer as being "high end" ( although i have several Pioneer tables ). My personal preference runs more along the lines of a Clearaudio Tangential TQ-I or Eminent Technology type arm mounted on a good table. This is not to say that a product such as a Pioneer PL-1000 or PL-800 can't play records and make music, but that it may not offer the last bit of refinement and detail that an admittedly more expensive combo of gear is capable of. Like anything else in this world, you have to pay to play. How much one wants to pay is directly related to how much one can play.
As far as flexing of the canilever goes, you are talking about distorting the amplitude and duration of each micro-vibration in a groove. A sloppy cantilever is equivalent to a car with bad shocks. Not only is the effectiveness of the suspension highly compromised, "road holding" power is also reduced. As such, a stiffer cantilever not only improves linearity by reducing distortion, it can also improve trackability IF the rest of the system is up to snuff. Sean
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As far as record cleaning goes, i'm talking about a REAL "deep cleaning" and then general maintenance after that. By deep cleaning, one would use cleaning solvents that are scrubbed into the grooves, removal of the offending solvents and grunge via vacuum removal and then a thorough rinsing using distilled / highly purified water with further vacuum removal. While this may sound like a lot of work, you only have to do it ONE time per disc and that's about it.
As far as linear tracking tables go, i wasn't referring to a Pioneer as being "high end" ( although i have several Pioneer tables ). My personal preference runs more along the lines of a Clearaudio Tangential TQ-I or Eminent Technology type arm mounted on a good table. This is not to say that a product such as a Pioneer PL-1000 or PL-800 can't play records and make music, but that it may not offer the last bit of refinement and detail that an admittedly more expensive combo of gear is capable of. Like anything else in this world, you have to pay to play. How much one wants to pay is directly related to how much one can play.
As far as flexing of the canilever goes, you are talking about distorting the amplitude and duration of each micro-vibration in a groove. A sloppy cantilever is equivalent to a car with bad shocks. Not only is the effectiveness of the suspension highly compromised, "road holding" power is also reduced. As such, a stiffer cantilever not only improves linearity by reducing distortion, it can also improve trackability IF the rest of the system is up to snuff. Sean
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