No opinion on the Lyra fluid itself. I would expect they know what they're doing. At the same time, with the great results one can get using the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser that Doug Deacon and Paul introduced us all to, why bother? Just use the Magic Eraser. . |
As Rushton said, the Magic Eraser + a dry stylus brush work better than most liquid cleaners (I haven't tried the Lyra liquid, but I abandoned two other liquids and two gel type cleaners long ago). The only thing that works better IME is a sliver of ultrafine sandpaper, as Linn supplies, but I've only needed that to rehabilitate neglected styli sent to me by friends or dealers. Regular use of the ME + brush is sufficient to prevent any buildup. Caution: I've received correspondence from dozens (hundreds?) of audiophiles since introducing the Magic Eraser-as-stylus-cleaner four years ago. Only three of them ever experienced a problem with any stylus cleaner, and ALL THREE WERE LYRA OWNERS. Two Magic Eraser users and one Lyra liquid stylus cleaner user had their styli fall off the cantilever during cleaning. (!) From this, the prudent conclusion is that Lyra's method for affixing stylus to cantilever is (or was) less secure than most. Whatever stylus cleaner you use, proceed with care. |
chashmal: I've owned a lyra lydian beta, helicon and now a Skala. The last two cartrdiges (I had the helicon for 3 years and the skala now for over 2) I have used the lyra fluid about every 3-4 sides of a record. It seems to improve every so slightly the imaging and things slightly are more coherent. I used the record research fluid nearly every side. And sometimes use the record research (LP#9 I think) to clean and very carefully apply the Lyra fluid. This seems the highest fidelity route. As long as you apply the Lyra fluid to the brush first, flick away any excess, and only swipe the stylus (you can get a slight amount on the catilever) you'll be fine and you'll get a small incremental improvement in sound... Also the Cardas frequency sweep record helps. I use track #2 on side one every 25 hours or so. |
I'm mostly using the magic eraser as well but I do rotate my zerodust in between sides because I figure it has a gentler action. I also have some Disc Doctor fluid and brush left which I occasionally still apply. I guess I'm thinking a variety of approaches may offer the best balance. Overall though, I'm most impressed with the magic eraser and it's became the backbone of my stylus care regimen. It's a perfect illustration that spending more money is no guarantee of better, or even equivalent, results. |
