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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
rushton's avatar
rushton
2,445 posts
 
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 OP
5,263 posts
 
On a related subject, have you found the enzyme effectiveness deteriorates in less than ten hours? Have you ever done a large scoop? How long does it take you per record to do all four steps? As effective as Prelude is, I find myself avoiding cleaning more records.
rushton's avatar
rushton
2,445 posts
 
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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tbg OP
5,263 posts
 
Rushton, I cannot replicate your speed. I did twelve records, both sides yesterday. It took me 20 minutes for each record. I would expect that the Loricraft string vacuum takes longer. At any rate I have nearly 2000 LPs to go!

The Step 4 looks different than the Step 3 ultra-pure water when you first sprinkle it on the record. There is a surrounding wetted area even though the water remain as drops on the surface. Once you spread it with the Walker applicators, however, they look the same.
rushton's avatar
rushton
2,445 posts
 
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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