Finding ultra-pure water locally...

As I said, do what you need to do, as there is no real information on which to judge the needed purity of water you need. I probably would have continued to use RO water as I had been using had I not tried the Walker Prelude system.

Markd51: Your point is well taken, kinda like "How many angels can dance on the point of a pin." For my part , I'll give anyone a good run for the money when it comes to a LP Collection, even still , how many records can I clean for today and into tomorrow is up for debate.

The one fact I am sure of is that should one own equipment that discerns the differences all to the good. If not , no problem at least you have a clean recording.

Before I steamed cleaned LPs the differences were less hearable. Now, as I use steam cleaning those differences are quite noticeable , so for me, the "cleaner" the rinse the better. How much better($ vs $$$) has yet to be determined. All the best.

Here's a follow-up on using NERL Diagnostics' Reagent Grade Water for record cleaning.

I purchased a 5 gallon container for roughly $33 (including shipping) via the link I referenced above and it arrived at my door in less than a week after ordering. I compared that cost to Lloyd W's water at ~ $88 per gallon or Osage/Audio Intelligent water at ~ $72/gallon (both w/out shipping).

The NERL Diagnostics Reagent Grade water comes in a thick plastic 'bag' inside a cardboard box with an analysis printed on the side. I was very happy to find a spigot included. It was easy to attach the spigot, then turn the box on its side for easy dispensing of the water into an empty 32oz water bottle from my Walker Prelude kit.

So... how's it work? Works just like water. For record cleaning I've used the RO water from my home's system and of course the water that comes with the Prelude kit, but otherwise I don't have a lot of basis for comparison. And I don't have a fancy methodology, so no pretense of Science here.

The bottom line is I am now more convinced than ever that pure water rinsing is a key critical step in effective record cleaning. I started with records that had been rigorously cleaned with the Prelude system using my Loricraft machine, listened to them, then cleaned them again with one pass of the Prelude Step Two cleaning fluid and 2 rinses with the Reagent Grade water. One record was from an EMI box set of Richter and Kagaan at the Touraine festival playing Mozart sonatas and the other was the Telarc Slatkin Mahler Titan.

The records each sounded remarkably cleaner (substantially reduced noise and faintly increased harmonic information) after the second cleaning and rinsing. I've had both these records for many years and frankly I was surprised and delighted to hear them virtually free from pops n clicks. I can't say if the NERL water is 'better' - not sure how I'd know that - but including it in the regimen yields the best cleaning results I've had over many years of record cleaning.

I then cleaned a copy of the Marriner Argo Handel Water Music and declared victory. For a multi-year supply delivered to my door for a little Web research and less than the price of a new Speakers Corner reissue I'm quite pleased with the NERL water. Its my new reference water! (Heh - always wanted to say something Valinesque.)

Tim

Tim,

You are such a NERL! ;-)

Fully agree that a very pure water rinse is an essential final step. Of course it's no surprise that a second cleaning sounded better than the first, as you said. Here's how we A/B final rinse waters:

Get both sides of an LP as clean as you know how. Then rinse side 1 with water A and side 2 with water B. Play and compare. (If you have a second set of ears available, as I do, don't tell him/her that it's a test until after they've heard both sides... double blind).

Now re-rinse each side with the opposite water. Play and compare again.

If you hear a difference, re-rinse the quieter side with the OTHER water (the water NOT used for when it was quieter). Play and listen to hear if the sound goes backwards. If it does, and re-rinsing with the quieter water makes it better again, you've identified the purer/better performing water.

Doug

Hdm and Jtimothya thanks for the info for Thermo Scientific Nerl Diagnostics i just got off the phone with a very nice lady and orderd 12 pints of there Reagent Grade Water. Next time i will go with a 5 gallon order. Steaming lps does use more water. I think steaming gets lps to sound better than not.

Doug i understand your test on a/b ing sides but as you know different stampers used for lp sides could come into play sound wise.