Vinyl Care

@mswale said, "Record cleaning is almost a religion onto it’s self."

I’ll never make cleaning records a hobby!

@theaudiohiffle I've had the LAST cleaning system around for decades using the all-purpose cleaning solution (I would never use so called "preservatives" on my records or stylus!) and no matter what you do it always leaves residue. When I was still relying on it after using three drops of the solution on the applicator and distributing it according to LAST's instructions, I would roll the applicator on a dry and clean rolled up cotton T shirt at least six times to remove the excess before applying it to the record surface. After multiple plays even within months or years between plays there will be a minute white glob on the tip of the stylus.

As a general rule I keep record cleaning to a minimum. Breaking the seal on a new record it only gets a single pass with a dry carbon fiber brush as I queue up each side, (unpowered, rotating the turntable platter one revolution with my left hand) then a pass with a silicon roller left and right with a quarter turn of the platter and left and right again. I do repeat this procedure with every play whether I've used a more extensive cleaning method on used records or not.

Consider using the Last Record Cleaning system.  I started using it on my records in the late '60's (55-60 yrs ago..wow) and those records still sound as new.  Use the preservative before first play, then use the cleaning fluid every 3-5th time you play the record.  No expensive machinery required, either.

@audition__audio I like your approach. I think the Spin Clean is just the thing for records you pick up at the used record store before ever setting my stylus down on them. I do follow that up with my unsealed record cleaning method as outlined in my previous post to @theaudiohiffle. The final step I believe is playing the record since the stylus is the only thing that makes sufficient contact with the surfaces in the groove followed with a pass with the silicon roller to remove the debris that the stylus flicks up onto the surface of the record during the first play. I never see any reason to ever deep clean a used record again provided you put them in a new clean sleeve and handle them properly before dusting them with a brush and the roller before play. I would also wet clean my stylus before the start of any record I put on the platter as you suggested. In most instances, even on the first play, used records play silently all the way through.

If I can't live with the noise from surfaces imperfections, etc. on that pressing, I return the record for credit or exchange.

I believe that Spin Clean makes a good, manual wet system. You will need to dry the vinyl after cleaning. Also needed will be a anti-static brush and a stylus cleaner. I clean all albums before playing with a wet system and then use the brush for the next 5 or so play before using wet again. You should be able to get all this for under $ 200.00. Nitty Gritty makes a very good wet vacuum, manual system for higher $.

 

@richardbrand There is no relationship between the specific electrical charge on the surface of a vinyl record and noise. As far as the diamond creating "static" as you people like to call it, last I heard diamonds are made of carbon which is the most conductive material known to man. Of course, at the contact patch there several thousand pounds of force per square inch combined with the velocity of that patch along with the spinning record generates enormous amounts of heat any charge generated by that action would be conducted through the stylus itself, up the cantilever to the metal cross and out through the coils to the preamp and then to ground. Superfluous! The interaction between the spinning record and the dustcover generates more charge while the record is playing and a resulting effect on VTF. "Static"? I just ignore it.

 I believe static electricity is the biggest cause of surface noise and water is an excellent way of discharging static.  I also think static charges are created in the groove when it is rubbed by a diamond stylus.

@richardbrand I'm completely humbled sir, you're right!

@faustuss 

As far as the diamond creating "static" as you people like to call it, last I heard diamonds are made of carbon which is the most conductive material known to man.

You must still be a few years short of getting a degree in materials science!

Carbon has four valence electrons and exists as several allotropes with enormously varying characteristics.  Even in this modern world of false facts, I still find Wikipedia to be reliable, see  Carbon - Wikipedia

Diamond is the hardest naturally occurring substance on earth, while another allotrope, graphite, is one of the softest.  What makes diamond so hard is that all its electrons are fully occupied forming covalent bonds.  There are no free electrons, making diamond an excellent electrical insulator.  Perversely, it is the best thermal conductor.

From Wikipedia:

The system of carbon allotropes spans a range of extremes:

Graphite is one of the softest materials known.	Synthetic nanocrystalline diamond is the hardest material known.[30]
Graphite is a very good lubricant, displaying superlubricity.[31]	Diamond is the ultimate abrasive.
Graphite is a conductor of electricity.[32]	Diamond is an excellent electrical insulator,[33] and has the highest breakdown electric field of any known material.
Some forms of graphite are used for thermal insulation (i.e. firebreaks and heat shields), but some other forms are good thermal conductors.	Diamond is the best known naturally occurring thermal conductor.
Graphite is opaque.	Diamond is highly transparent.
Graphite crystallizes in the hexagonal system.[34]	Diamond crystallizes in the cubic system.
Amorphous carbon is completely isotropic.	Carbon nanotubes are among the most anisotropic materials known.

 

@richardbrand Roger Russell called it "electret" or piezo with a beryllium cantilever and fine line stylus.

"I think the Micro Acoustics 382 is a moving magnet cartridge, I suspect with removable stylus.  How many playing hours do you estimate you get from one stylus, and what is its tip profile?  Just interested ..."

 

@richardbrand Just like the ceramic cartridges with the flip-over sapphire stylus with a plastic cantilever you would get on those crappy BSR turntables in the 60s and 70s. Longines Symphonette anyone! 

As for the proprietary stylus geometry, it's just a variation of the length and width of the contact patch. Shibata's and line contacts were developed in the era of quadrophonic because they could resolve the ultra-sonic information encoded on the LP during the lacquering process used to steer the surround effects from speaker to speaker when they were decoded in the preamp. It was also a milestone improvement in faceting the microscopic diamond tip and the resulting advantages in playback quality for stereo LPs.

"Yes, following up on your lead I discovered that the 382 uses the piezo electrostatic effect with a passive network to make it electrically like a moving magnet system.  Another 40-year-old design!  The stylus shape is patented but similar to line contact designs."

@antinn Yeah, right!

"If you are curious, here is the patent for LAST - 1499067499117143667-05389281.  It’s nothing more than a perfluorinated oil dissolved in a perfluorinated solvent.  The fluid is applied, and the solvent evaporates leaving behind an oil film.  However, it does not ’bond’ with the record.  Perfluorinated products are some of the most stable products known, which is why they are now also known as "forever chemicals".  However, there should be no health concerns with using LAST provided you do not drink it.  The oil definitely plates out on the record, and it does not evaporate (perfluorinated oils are used in satellites) and once on the surface, as you have experienced, is not easily removed.  Forget ultrasonics, multiple applications of a fairly aggressive detergent and vigorous brushing are what it takes to remove. "