AI is still in business. Paul Frumkin sold the rights to the product to someone else who is still producing and marketing it according to Paul's formula.
Walker Audio Prelude LP Cleaning Solution
I did not want to post this as a full review as this is my initial first impression using the newly released Walker Audio Prelude LP Cleaning Solutions.
Prelude is a 3-step process consisting of enzymes, premixed cleaning solution and an ultra pure water rinse (made via a 7 stage filtration process). I comes nicely packaged with the following: a 64 ounce container of ultra pure water, a 16 ounce squeeze bottle of premixed cleaning solution, a second bottle of water in a 16 ounce squeeze bottle, an empty 4 ounce squeeze bottle, and a jar of enzyme powder, along with a small scoop and a slightly larger scoop.
Lloyd’s research indicates that enzymes in a solution only have a life cycle of 8-10 hours before they die off. By keeping the enzymes in a powder form, and only mixing enough to be used during a cleaning session ensures they stay active.
If you plan on cleaning 5-6 or so LP sides at a time (which is what I have been doing), use the small scoop in the enzyme powder. Place the powder in the empty 4-ounce bottle. Add some of the water from the 16-ounce container up to the “A” mark on the 4-ounce bottle and shake to mix. Apply to the pads of a cleaning brush and lightly scrub the LP as it spins on your RCM. Let it sit for 15-30 seconds and vacuum off.
Using a second brush, apply the premixed cleaning solution to the pad and apply to the LP as above. Let sit for a few seconds and vacuum off. Do not let either solution dry on the LP.
Using a third brush, use the ultra pure water as a final rinse and vacuum off.
I have had lots of experience with different LP cleaning products, including Disc Doctor, Audio Intelligent, and L’Art du Son. The AI solutions are similar to Prelude in that they also use the enzyme solution as a pre-treat prior to cleaning. The AI enzyme come premixed, unlike the Prelude. The enzyme powder formula of Prelude ensures that the enzymes stay viable until they are needed. I really like the AI solutions when I used them, and missed them when Paul sold the business.
That said, The Walker Audio Prelude is the best of the AI, kicked up several notches. Lloyd Walker has hit another one out of the ballpark. After cleaning several LPs that I thought I knew backward and forward, I can report the following: surfaces are dead silent, with no residue what so ever from any of the three steps. There is no static build up, and even well played LPs have that shiny right out of the sleeve look to them.
Focus, detail and transparency are the first three words that come to mind when describing what I am hearing. The inner detail on familiar LPs lets me hear for the first time things that have been there but never fleshed out of the grooves the way it is after using Prelude. At least, that's what MY ears are telling me. The music just leaps out from the utter blackness of the grooves. And, your records are REALLY clean. What else could you expect from one of the true masters of the analog arts? Who better to bring such a great product to the market for LP lovers than the man who builds what I consider to be the finest LP playback product in the world?
Give Lloyd a call and talk to him yourself about Walker Audio Prelude. I have no financial connection to Walker Audio other than the fact that I am a very happy customer and use many of their products in my system.
Kudos to Lloyd, Felicia, and Fred for creating another great Walker Audio product.
Prelude is a 3-step process consisting of enzymes, premixed cleaning solution and an ultra pure water rinse (made via a 7 stage filtration process). I comes nicely packaged with the following: a 64 ounce container of ultra pure water, a 16 ounce squeeze bottle of premixed cleaning solution, a second bottle of water in a 16 ounce squeeze bottle, an empty 4 ounce squeeze bottle, and a jar of enzyme powder, along with a small scoop and a slightly larger scoop.
Lloyd’s research indicates that enzymes in a solution only have a life cycle of 8-10 hours before they die off. By keeping the enzymes in a powder form, and only mixing enough to be used during a cleaning session ensures they stay active.
If you plan on cleaning 5-6 or so LP sides at a time (which is what I have been doing), use the small scoop in the enzyme powder. Place the powder in the empty 4-ounce bottle. Add some of the water from the 16-ounce container up to the “A” mark on the 4-ounce bottle and shake to mix. Apply to the pads of a cleaning brush and lightly scrub the LP as it spins on your RCM. Let it sit for 15-30 seconds and vacuum off.
Using a second brush, apply the premixed cleaning solution to the pad and apply to the LP as above. Let sit for a few seconds and vacuum off. Do not let either solution dry on the LP.
Using a third brush, use the ultra pure water as a final rinse and vacuum off.
I have had lots of experience with different LP cleaning products, including Disc Doctor, Audio Intelligent, and L’Art du Son. The AI solutions are similar to Prelude in that they also use the enzyme solution as a pre-treat prior to cleaning. The AI enzyme come premixed, unlike the Prelude. The enzyme powder formula of Prelude ensures that the enzymes stay viable until they are needed. I really like the AI solutions when I used them, and missed them when Paul sold the business.
That said, The Walker Audio Prelude is the best of the AI, kicked up several notches. Lloyd Walker has hit another one out of the ballpark. After cleaning several LPs that I thought I knew backward and forward, I can report the following: surfaces are dead silent, with no residue what so ever from any of the three steps. There is no static build up, and even well played LPs have that shiny right out of the sleeve look to them.
Focus, detail and transparency are the first three words that come to mind when describing what I am hearing. The inner detail on familiar LPs lets me hear for the first time things that have been there but never fleshed out of the grooves the way it is after using Prelude. At least, that's what MY ears are telling me. The music just leaps out from the utter blackness of the grooves. And, your records are REALLY clean. What else could you expect from one of the true masters of the analog arts? Who better to bring such a great product to the market for LP lovers than the man who builds what I consider to be the finest LP playback product in the world?
Give Lloyd a call and talk to him yourself about Walker Audio Prelude. I have no financial connection to Walker Audio other than the fact that I am a very happy customer and use many of their products in my system.
Kudos to Lloyd, Felicia, and Fred for creating another great Walker Audio product.
Showing 9 responses by slipknot1
Ketchup, Let's see: so far I have cleaned 20 LP sides (10 records). I have used about 2 fingernail size anounts of the enzyme powder, 3 to 4 ounces of water, and less than an ounce of cleaning solution. My guess is the first thing to be be replenished would be the premixed cleaning solution, but not until I have cleaned well over 200 LPs As far as HAZMATS on the LP or not, Lloyd sells it as a three-step process and it is efficacious as a three-step process. Could you skip the enzymes? Sure. You've bought and paid for them, why not use them? |
Ketchup- I understand what you are saying re: the amounts of cleaning solution used. But, if I follow your math, I would have used 4-6 teaspoons for 20 sides. FAR LESS than an ounce. I stated that I used less than an ounce, but not that much less. Most of my LPs are pretty clean to start with, so after the enzyme step, I only need enough to to do the job. I don't apply it directly to the LP, but to the brush pad, as I don't want to apply a dry brush to the LP. As has been stated above, the enzyme step only needs to be done once, not with each subsequent cleaning, unless the LP has been containimated by oils etc from your skin. |
I merely reported above MY experience with the product. I have used the AI product and liked it very much. Still do. I am using the Walker Prelude product now and like it very much. That said, I AM NOT a chemist. The debate going back and forth so far has detracted from the intent of this thread. The naysayers that are dismissing the product out of hand would do best to try it first, compare it to AI and draw your own conclusions. It seems like flawed thinking to claim something does or does not work if you have not tried it. If you don't intend to try one or the other, please start your own thread to debunk the theory behind enzyme cleaners. Like our choices in audio equipment, the choices we make to care for our LPs are our choices. At the end of the day, we only have to please ourselves. I have used RRL, Disc Doctor, AI, L'Art du Son, Walker and have my preferences. I happen to like the AI and the Walker, but prefer to use one over the other at this time. If you've tried the Walker Prelude and wish to debate its efficacy, fine. If you haven't tried it, opinions as to whether or not it works, are not really germane to this thread. |
Flemke- Why are you so bitter? Did you have a financial stake in AI? If so-in the interest of full disclosure you should say so. You should be a little more careful about what you post. The words you used are not your own, I know. At least you used quotes. But- you nor I were privy to the conversations you reference in your post. Trust me on this, you don't know the whole story. Some would consider your last post as lible. Once again- This thread is about my experience WITH the product. If you haven't tried it, you have nothing of value to add to this thread. This is especially true if all you have to add are accusations based upon what someone else said to you. |
Flemke- A public forum is not the place for supposition or innuendo. I don't know the story, neither do you. THAT was my point. I am disappointed that the purpose of this thread was skewed way off track. The only thing I attempted to express was what I found in using a product. I am sorry that some folks seem to have an axe to grind, and feel a need to hijack other's threads in order to vent. If you have a problem with the principals, take it up with them. Like Jejune, I will not comment any further on this topic |
I'm no chemist either. I too claim no knowledge about the biology or chemistry of enzymes. I can only report what I read in the directions for use. Perhaps it's not so much that the enzymes themselves are living organisms, but perhaps the chemical reaction created when they are suspended in a liquid (in this case water) limits the period of effective viability. http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/E/Enzymes.html Enzymes Enzymes are catalysts. Most are proteins. (A few ribonucleoprotein enzymes have been discovered and, for some of these, the catalytic activity is in the RNA part rather than the protein part. Enzymes bind temporarily to one or more of the reactants of the reaction they catalyze. In doing so, they lower the amount of activation energy needed and thus speed up the reaction. It appears from the above that the key is the enzyme solution as a pre-treatment allows the cleaning solution to work better as there is less energy required due to the catalyst effect created by the bonding of the enzyme solution and the cleaning solution. Call Lloyd Walker to discuss the research he put into this before he brought it to the market. |