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Does LAST Preservative DULL sound?

Got one cautionary message from another respondent via email that LAST Preservative could ruin Lp's leaving a "dulling effect".All I knew was I tried it and have been happy after head tech at VPI told me he wouldn't live without it.Said he'd have people who brought LP's to him at shows that they had treated since new with LAST.He said one should clean LP first to remove chemicals used by by LP manufacturers as reslesing compounds.At these show he'd spin the LP's and would inquire how many times it had been played and many replied "hundreds" whereas to his ears (because of the LAST Preservative)his guess was maybe half a dozen.So here was a reccomendation from somebody you'd expect to be "in the know" with no interest fincailly or other wise reccomnding anothers product.So even though I have heard many positive comments about LAST's Preservative even from folks wo use Disc Doctor cleaner or another "power"(pre) cleaner or like myself who use home brew(with alchohol which is another debated aspect of Lp care- does it "dry" LP's or leach out platcizers etc) but would like to hear if anybody else has found this very expensive product to harm the sound of LP's.I myself have not experienced it (using both their Power Cleaner and Preservative plus my homebrew which I was off with a second clean with hot water before applying the Preservative.But I know dulling could be a posibility with everything except purified water.I myself used Touramat on scratched LP's and it acted as a "lubricant" which in fact made clicks and noise less obstrusive.Comments on LAST products especially the Presevative,especially if you concur that it can harm,wel I'd really like to hear from you as would others who are "true believers".Think after my Vaccuum machine the LAST Presrvative is the one thing I couldn't subistute or make changes with so was as you can imagine taken aback by this individuals cautionary tale.
As ever (with improved spell checking it is hoped)
Chazzbo
chazzbo

Showing 1 response by blkadr

blkadr
739 posts
 
I will not comment on the effects of the LAST products because I do not use them. I would like to say that the argument that the LAST treatment reduces the "openness" of the sound of vinyl and "smooths over detail" have been around for many years. I also know people who swear by LAST and treat all their vinyl.
Some "tweaks" have no effect, some have obvious effects but no always positive. Then there are the ones that seem to make subtle differences and there is a divide in opinion on the merits of the changes. This seems to be one of the latter.
The opinion that this may be the typical reaction of the "tweak police" may be valid. It may be the case that LAST has beneficial effects of protecting vinyl at the expense of a slight reduction in high frequency information. I dont know. Whatever your opinion is on the product, remember this debate is not new, and as they say "dont kill the messenger".
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