Does the Step 4 final rinse for Walker Prelude help?


help? Simply, yes, amazingly so.

I have now played six records which were previously cleaned using Prelude. Afer listening I cleaned each with the new Step 4 and then listened again. I expected some benefit, especially as I had already done two Step 3 rinses. What I got, however, was a major reduction in the noise level often revealing noises I had been only somewhat aware of. Listening to Harry Belafonte's Returns to Carnegie Hall. The subway becomes quite obvious and even traffic outside. This, of course, does not improve the performance but the improved ambience and awareness of the movement of the performers greatly improves the realism. Further, the bass is greatly improved.

The Joni Mitchell Blue album moved from a roughly recorded performance into one with great realism about her then youthful voice. One focuses much more on her lyrics. Finally the Duke's Big 4 45 rpm release soared in dynamics. The bass and the piano leaped ahead in realism and the sense of being there.

I have done this with three other albums, but the pattern is obvious. I now have to rinse many, many albums today.

If you like Prelude, Step Four is absolutely necessary. The label says not to take internally, so it clearly contains chemicals not meant to drink.
tbg

Showing 10 responses by rushton

Tbg, I'm reasonably sure that the time difference lies in the amount of time it takes Loricraft (or any of the "string" cleaners) to traverse the side versus the VPI. I'm quite confident that the string cleaners give a better result, but that's a different discussion! :-)

Best wishes as you keep moving through your collection. I continue to be amazed at the improvements I'm hearing in LPs that I know well, so I'm happy investing the time as you also seem to be. I have over 6,000 LPs yet to go, so my approach is just to pull out what I think I want to listen to in the next several days and clean those. It will be a "forever" process.
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TGB, my experience with Walker Audio Step 4 Rinse is similar to yours. A few days ago, I posted my observations which the moderators insisted on putting in Reviews:Analog. Too bad we can't have all of this discussion in one place.

Step 4 Rinse is now a standard part of my cleaning regimen, and like you, I'm re-rinsing a lot of records. :-) For those using other multi-step cleaning fluid regimens, I'm confident the addition of the Walker Audio Step 4 Rinse will provide additional benefit to your cleaning process as well.

Dougdeacon, the Step 4 Rinse starts with Lloyd's ultra pure water rinse, but he's added something to it. From the smell, there clearly must at least be some alcohol of some description. Lloyd claims that, like the ultra pure water he sells, it leaves absolutely no residue.
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Tbg, I too had expected little improvement and was very pleased to find a very noticeable improvement. Whatever the degree, it's a material enough improvement that I now use it regularly and will continue to do so.

Thanks for posting your experience. It certainly was nice to read that someone else is also hearing yet a futher improvement!
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Tbg, no I don't use one. My vinyl is too valuable to me to risk having an accident with a hair dryer coming near my LPs. Same for the steam cleaning recommendations. I do use the Talisman.
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Doug, I appreciate all of your efforts to elucidate and educate, but I'll have to disagree with your speculations about the optimum sequencing of the Step 4 Rinse, and I won't choose to experiment with it. The point of the Step 4 Rinse is exactly that: a final finishing rinse that reaches deeply into the groove to remove any remaining residue. There is no value to using it after the enzyme step but before the Step 2 surfactant cleaning step because of all the materials in any of the various surfactant cleaning fluids. As witnessed by all of our shared experiences with purer and purer water rinses, the Ultra-pure rinse eliminates residues better than plain distilled water. From my listening experiences with it, and from what Lloyd says he's doing with the formulation, the Step 4 Rinse moves us another step further ahead.
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Stiltskin, I happened to be cleaning some records tonight so I observed carefully after reading your question. The Step 4 Rinse behaves just like the Ultra-pure water when you first squeeze some onto the surface of the LP: intact drops with high surface tension. But after just a second or two you can see that some moisture is seeping into the grooves to either side of the droplets. The Ultra-pure water won't migrate at all out of its tidy little beads until you start forcing it into the grooves with the brush. Now, the seepage of the Step 4 is nowhere near the amount of flow that occurs with the Step 1 Enzyme mixture or the Step 2 pre-mixed cleaning fluid. But, the Step 4 does seep somewhat, even though the bulk of the bead stays intact until you start working it with the brush.
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Tbg, I haven't been able to tell anything about enzyme loss of effectiveness in less than 10 hours. I've never mixed up a batch with the large scoop, only the small. And I often mix a half batch with just half the small scoop to do just a few records. It takes me about 8-10 minutes to do both side of an LP with all four steps (including a double rinse on Step 3) using a VPI RCM for the vacuum between steps. Yes, it does take some time.
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Great results, Tbg! I'm experiencing the same here with the Walker Audio Prelude and the Step 4 High Resolution Rinse. It's delivering remarkable results, not just with silent surfaces but also with the improved resolution.
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Thanks for sharing your experience with the Prelude and Step 4 Rinse, Stiltskin. You clearly are experiencing what we're experiencing here!
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Step 4 does not use a lubricant. Lloyd says it has a further ingredient in addition to ultra pure water, but it leaves no residue and is not a lubricant.
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