Reference: Recommended Vinyl Accessories

fredj · « **Reply #40 on:** 8 Aug 2005, 06:09 am »

Quote from: Aman

I will get rid of some myths for you all

1. Stylus cleaning

You will never need a stylus cleaning tool in your life if you keep your records clean, dustcover on the turntable when not in use, and use a mat which is not prone to creating static electricity.

I keep my Vinyl scroupulously clean, but I find a great deal of my used Vinyl will once properly cleaned go through a burnishing and knockin out the rocks for the 1st or second post wet clean plays, some of ther crud
will foul a stylus, if afordability is the issue a small peice of Magic Eraser
and or a small section of the Linn Recommended Green sandpaper will
cost essentaily nothing and do a very worthwhile job.
A Zen Dust used every side will dramatically extend styli service life
even with clean vinyl.

2. Record Cleaning Machines...

... are incredibly essential for vinyl listening. If you are going to be listening to vinyl more than any other source option, it is the numero uno tool. I have been through the ins and outs of vinyl cleanline ...

I'd agree except I actually find an elemental DIY RCM superior to any VPI or NG and even the $3K Clearaudio RCM as the seperate Wet/Dry vac
($29 has a great deal more lift than the cheap Vac motors in the aforementioned Commercial units, will not overheat or corrode as the commercial ones do, you can control the precise amount of lift
on the fly depending on the circumstances. and if the Sm. Plastic Wet/Dry ever fdoes puke it's a short trip to the nearest hardware store and $20
to $30 and you're back in business, as opposed to getting boned hard
by VPI or NG and at times an intermiddable wait as well.
And with the wet/dry vac you can wrap it in a sleeping bag stuff it in a box in the closet an adjacent room or in my case in the basement
and I can listen to my Vinyl or watch a good film in near silence
try that with any of the commercial unit's until you reach the level of the really fine RCM's that use quiet and powerful small industrial vacuum pumps.
The standard Commercial RCM's motors make such an obscene racket that it is very fatiguing.

Disc Doctor is an excellent solvent, but it takes a serious amount of rinsing to remove the reside it leaves behind, I find RRL super Vinyl wash
does an excellent job and requires no rinsing whatsoever. I rarely need the RRL Deep.

Regards FredJ

Bugtussel is fine but so is Audio Intelligent Enzyme

alpha_03 · « **Reply #41 on:** 21 Jan 2006, 07:04 am »

Hey everyone,

Cant believe no one mentioned this:

A dryer sheet tucked into your cleaning cloth (helps keep down the static) I use the same cloth that one uses for cleaning musical instruments. I also use a product called static gard, get them at your local grocerey store and they work great (at least for me). I also use a very fine horse hair shoe brush and plain ol' purified water- I never use any soaps- detergents leave behind to much crap.

Also an excelant vibration mat is a stuff sold at Lowes, I believe it's called sorbothane, it looks very much like a floor runner and can be purchased by the linear foot to your liking, it's about 1/2 thick, gray in color, cuts very easily (with a sharp razor blade) it's the same hi-quality industrial stuff used for people who stand on concrete all day- it really works very good. You can find it in the carpeting section.

Another very good dampener is a stuf sold at http://www.partsexpress.com look for a material named dynamat, comes in various types and sizes. I use it to dampen speakers in custom boxes and it works as well as anything else I have ever tried- just costs a tad more.

Cool idea on the three "super balls" YBA uses a tripod design for all their gear, odd how some people think a like.

And the tripod principle has a bit of engineering proof behind it too.

For those with serious rumble problems and /or in need a a very good phono pre-amp see here- http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=245-876

A bit of history:

Phonograph records have three basic problems:

1. It is physically impossible to press them with ridges that end up allowing low frequencies to come out at the same reproduction level as mid and high frequencies. Bass compensation is therefore needed during playback.

2. Records produce a certain amount of hiss which is covered up in post-production by boosting the gain of the high frequencies before pressing. Counter-EQing during playback compensates for this.

3. Magnetic cartridges produce a weak signal, which must be boosted to match the rest of the amplification, and this too is done during playback.

In the mid-1950s, the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) established compensation standards. The resulting RIAA preamp has been built into every hi-fi and stereo amplifier with phono or turntable inputs since then. A separate RIAA preamp is necessary when you are connecting a turntable to a source player that does not have one built in.

ricmon · « **Reply #42 on:** 26 Jan 2006, 09:37 pm »

I just put in a order for the Ring Mat the aniversary edition.

http://www.stereotimes.com/acc061204.shtm

bulgin · « **Reply #43 on:** 14 Mar 2006, 08:23 pm »

Hi

I have most of the gadgets mentioned here but I also keep a stethoscope around my tt's for monitoring rumble and other nasties. A Maglite 'Solitaire' is always nearby, as is an assortment of shorthaired stylus and record brushes. I also have a collection of auto lift-off devices such as AT's "Safety Raiser" and two different models from Colton. These I never use as I find them a pain in the whatsisname.

Another gadget lying around unused is an illuminating lamp which clips on the tt cover. This thing is ac mains and switches off when the cover is down and "on" when the cover is raised. It works with a hazardous encapsulated mercury switch.

Cheers

bulgin

Wayner · « **Reply #44 on:** 16 Jul 2006, 05:17 pm »

I have had a local granite company make me a base for my turntable for about 100 bucks. I have put Audio Technica footers under the granite and then the turntable on top. Granite stops noise like nothing else can. Vibrations can be felt on the stand and they die on the granite!

I also like:

Shure SFG-2 stylus force guage
Discwasher D4 record brush (I found a new one in a lady's attic!)
Milty Zero-stat gun.
I also wet brush the record before I play a side with the D4 brush and a spray of home made solution 3/4 distilled water and 1/4 99% isopropyl Alcohol in a small mist spray bottle.

hifitommy · « **Reply #45 on:** 17 Jul 2006, 01:39 am »

Quote from: DARTH AUDIO on 30 Jan 2004, 08:02 pm

You pour the consentrate intoa gallon of distilled water. Then pour back into the spray bottle. I use about 8 to 10 sprays per side.

to do this. the gallon wont fit! ;^)

i knowwwwww, just enough to fill the little bottle. i couldnt resist. its like the old Contadina ad for tomato paste:

"who put those eight great tomatoes in that little bitty can?" we always said a little italian guy with a mallet.

anyway, that ad was from the mid 60s i believe.

Listens2tubes · « **Reply #46 on:** 4 Oct 2006, 02:21 am »

K Works IsoFeet under the TT have to heard to be believed. Takes a VPI Scout into Scoutmaster territory. Contact igor at: gorcuz@yahoo.com

jimdgoulding · « **Reply #47 on:** 10 Dec 2007, 03:23 am »

I have a Zerodust by Mozno for removing dirt and dust build up from my stylus quickly. For serious cleaning I use a D&K Electro Stylus Cleaner which is no more that a brush pad that you set your stylus tip on (with a spot of alcohol) and it vibrates at high speed. It uses batteries. An Orsonic clamp, a carbon fiber brush, and a factory supplied mat on my Nottingham with a tacky Oracle mat on my Micro Seiki. A lot of my albums were treated with Last years ago. I have a Shure stylus force gauge, too.

lofreek · « **Reply #48 on:** 6 Feb 2009, 03:43 pm »

So many recommendations for the Shure stylus gauge. I have had one for years, and didn't know what I was missing until I got a digital gauge with accuracy to .01. Far more accurate than the Shure.

I highly recommend the Milty Pixall for dust removal, and the Onzow Zerodust for cleaning the stylus.

2bigears · « **Reply #49 on:** 6 Feb 2009, 04:41 pm »

does one really need a digital force gauge,or are the beams good enough ???? where is a good place to buy a dig gauge ???? thks

BobM · « **Reply #50 on:** 6 Feb 2009, 04:49 pm »

Quote from: 2bigears on 6 Feb 2009, 04:41 pm

does one really need a digital force gauge,or are the beams good enough ???? where is a good place to buy a dig gauge ???? thks

You certainly need a digital stylus guage. One that reads in increments of .1 are OK, .05 better. BUT you don't need to spend crazy audiophile approved dollars for this. One can easly be had for about $25.

Bob

lofreek · « **Reply #51 on:** 6 Feb 2009, 05:11 pm »

This is the digital stylus gauge I have;

http://www.steveblinndesigns.com/pricelist.html

Scroll down almost to the bottom of the page.

I don't own one, but this guy makes serious platforms and racks.

2bigears · « **Reply #52 on:** 6 Feb 2009, 05:22 pm »

thks,i gave Steve a call.... dang,i bought a Shure just before from Audioadd boys.i can do a comparo i guess.

stone deaf · « **Reply #53 on:** 13 Mar 2009, 01:53 am »

To clean vinyl I use a Disc Doctor Vac and fluid. I use the Mapleshade static zapper and digital stylus force gauge. I use the Hunt's carbon fiber brush and recently bought an AcousTech Big Brush that I like a lot. I also use Last stylus cleaner and Grove Glide. I highly recommend using anti-static sleeves for your collection and album sleeves to protect the covers.

I recently upgraded to a Pro-Ject RM 10 turntable with Grado Reference Master cartridge. I got an excellent deal on the turntable as the Ground-It Delux damping platform had been sold from the box. My RM 10 sits on a 4" thick Mapleshade Maple isolation block with Isoblocks under the corners. Under the spike feet of the RM 10 are Herbie's Audio Cone/Spike Grounding Bases. I added the Pro-Ject Speed box and added Herbies Audio Fat Dots under the motor to compensate for the Grounding Bases used under the turntable. Dustcover is a Mitchell but it fits. Interconnects are Decware DSR II Silver Interconnects with homemade ground wire made from 16 gauge wire and crimp on lugs. The whole thing sits on a separate VTI audio rack separate from the VTI audio/video rack the rest of my equipment sits on. I use a Decware ZP3 RIAA phono stage into my preamp. I may could have done better but where I live doesn't give me a lot of opportunity to visually look, listen or try out high end gear.

The room uses a healthy dose of absorption panels, diffuser panels and bass traps. Treating the room is as much if not more important than buying the equipment.

hifitommy · « **Reply #54 on:** 21 Nov 2009, 11:36 pm »

http://www.soundstagedirect.com/

they send a regular newsletter and it has plenty of items that look good.

check them out.

chuckworkb · « **Reply #55 on:** 22 Nov 2009, 02:27 pm »

Quote from: Listens2tubes on 4 Oct 2006, 02:21 am

K Works IsoFeet under the TT have to heard to be believed. Takes a VPI Scout into Scoutmaster territory. Contact igor at: gorcuz@yahoo.com

I was just reading through all these great suggestions, and thought I would check out these Kworks Isofeet. I sent an email to the address above and it got returned as undeliverable.

Does anyone know if there is a new email?

Thanks

hifitommy · « **Reply #56 on:** 22 Nov 2009, 06:19 pm »

i thought you meant the actual vinyl. and i see i commented back in 06 too. well, the source of vinyl i listed is a good one.

orthobiz · « **Reply #57 on:** 22 Nov 2009, 10:47 pm »

Hifitommy's specs are highly recommended. Allow you to see tiny imperfections in the groove walls. And measure the stylus to groove angle within 0.001 degrees.

Paul

beachbum · « **Reply #58 on:** 6 Jan 2010, 01:58 am »

I used a Furutech de Stat for the elimination of that evil dust drawing static charge.
I also use a VPI 16.5 with steam cleaning for getting my vinyl super clean for quite playback and super sound.
One other thing is using Mr Cleans magic eraser to get and keep your stylus clean with out any goo or chemicals.

Old timer · « **Reply #59 on:** 6 Nov 2011, 05:04 pm »

In addition to the many great suggestions, I'd like to also recommend room air filtration and humidifiers. We used a small HEPA filter and cool air mister style humidifiers in our home, before having an HVAC contractor install built in systems into our furnace. The reduction of airbourne dust and contaminates not only is great for keeping playback gear clean, but it offers health benefits, too!

I also had a business that bends/welds plexiglass, build me a dust cover that covers my entire turntable, keeping the contaminates away from the platter mat and linear tracking arm tube, etc.

Mo Fi cleaning fluids are the best that I've tried, and yes, I have tried them all! One of the other enzyme cleaners that I tried had a whitish growth in the bottle, right out of the shipping box. It was returned.

Seperate cleaning brushes for cleaning and rinsing also recommended and I'd also suggest keeping them in a Tupperwear container when not in use, to keep them free of environmental contaminates.