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Vinyl foibles

I'd like to make this a space to ask questions about vinyl problems you're having trouble solving. I have a lot of questions, but I think it's better if we ask one at a time, or else I think we could have long lists.

Here is my first question. I have a Degritter album washer. I think it works great. I wash all my albums once, but not before I play them again and again.  Somehow, though, and this includes new albums no one else has ever touched, they pick up ticks and what sounds like scratches. I rewash the album and it sounds like new again. I only touch albums by their edges. How do inner bands become so dirty that sometimes a smudge can last a minute or more?  I've been playing vinyl albums for more years than many of you have lived, and I have learned to be very careful with vinyl. Are there vinyl gremlins haunting my album shelves?

audio-b-dog
audio-b-dog's avatar
audio-b-dog OP
853 posts
 

ANOTHER QUESTION:

What do you do with your favorite albums that get worn out? They pick up too many crackles and skips. Some older albums are reissued, but unless the cover says that they went back to the master tapes, then no doubt the music on the album has been stored digitally. I first noticed the difference in sound on ABKCO Stones albums. I own a few but can't play them anymore. If the record that is worn is one of my real favorites, I head for Discogs and look for a Mint- replacement.

tablejockey
4,405 posts
 

" I first noticed the difference in sound on ABKCO Stones albums"

For a CD centric setup, the ABKCO's  sound quite good. However, once I put a minty, period Beggars/ LIB on the table-game over.

Keef's guitar intro on LIB is so convincingly organic sounding it make me wonder why a reissue was thought necessary-other than $.

 

orthomead
210 posts
 

I see several things in play.  First, as @whart mentioned, foot wear matters.  Even in Florida where humidity abounds, I will develop more static if I'm in socks, rather than barefoot.  Second, I have a Nottingham TT and it used to have HORRIBLE static where the record had to be peeled off the platter. I purchased a achromat from Funk and all that pesky static went away.  Third, consider the use of a Ronxs lighter.  It is cheap and works as well, if not better, than my Furutech and is cheap-check it out on Amazon.  I use Tiger cloth, also available on Amazon, instead of a brush-it works great.  I have a DeGritter and will notice, as you have, occasional increase in pops and ticks on clean records.  Clean it after play-it will sound better next time and you don't have to wait.  Or, if side one is too pop and tick laden, clean it and listen to something else until it's done.  Usually the quick cycle is all that is necessary at that time.

terraplane8bob's avatar
terraplane8bob
90 posts
 

One of the first audio tweaks I ever heard about was from a dealer back in the early 1970s. He rubbed the top of a turntable cover-- remember this was in the days when you played records with the turntable cover lowered – with an anti-static cloth

. He then placed the tone arm on the record and closed the lid. The sound that emanated from the turntable was terrible because the magnetic force he created on the plastic lid attracted the cartridge, lowering its tracking weight just enough to create a god-awful cacophony of unwanted noise.  What a fun hobby this is!

parkergetdean
1,098 posts
 

every single one of you here needs help. If, perhaps you aren’t beyond any help now. Imagine any normal person watching you do all these things before and after playing a record.*

AI so far is a bigger scam than crypto. I have yet to see one answer that’s less than 50% BS...

*not me, I am not normal either

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