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MC Cartridge Degaussing Demagnetizing

An old topic that I would like to re-visit and would appreciate Jonathan Carr weighing in on.

What does LYRA use and/or recommend to degauss their (MC) cartridges?

What happened to the Audio Physic demagnetizer?
Immedia seems to have dropped them.

Since many companies/manufacturers of phono carts will NOT discuss degaussing their carts and/or the material of the armature is it OK to use the Cardas or Analogue Productions LPs instead?

How EXACTLY do these sweep records degauss a cartridge?

Is it OK to assume that IF a sweep record helps a cartridge sound better then a degausser or demagnetizer is appropriate?

Assuming no DC content and a very low level voltage and current... How EXACTLY can an AC rising and then falling signal fed into the cartridge cause the cartridge to fail prematurely?

Thanks! :^)
Tom M.
jhendrixfan
Post removed 
jhendrixfan OP
40 posts
 
Thanks everyone for your nice reponses! :)
Elizabeth - Read Jonathan Carr's treatise on this topic (from 10 years ago!) and you will see why your Dynavector does not need demagnetizing. The "more it is done the more it needs it" is complete sophistry in a technical sense. It is a psycho-acoustic thing. Initially you notice a distinct difference and then you tend to focus on it and do it more often. If scared, simply do the "shorting the output" thing whilst playing an LP.

Stringreen: You are very much correct and Mr. Carr discusses why your lovely Benz benefits from Demag.
I have a LYRA Dorian so I know that Jonathan recommends demag for it but NOT for my Denon DL-103S.

As for the Sumiko FB-1 it was alleged that they emit a small DC voltage at the end of the "cycle" that leaves the cartridge a bit "metal sounding" for a few hours.

Does anyone know what happened to the Audio Physic device?

Does anyone know what device LYRA uses and/or recommends for their cartridges?

Overall Demag/Degauss has its place - especially in a reference system. I think it is important to know if it even applies to the cartridge you are using and if it is even worth addressing. However just understand that, when applicable, it is a very REAL phenomenon - particularly with MC carts.
stringreen's avatar
stringreen
6,368 posts
 
Regarding Fluxbusting.... When you turn on the device, it does its job and then stops. The end of cycle is the actual turning off the unit and then switching to the other half of the cartridge to demag that. What I do is disconnect the unit from the cartridge when it stops demaging and THEN turn it to the other half after disconnecting it...that way I do not get the "metalic sound" you describe.
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jhendrixfan OP
40 posts
 
Elizabeth: Here is a WONDERFUL treatise by Jonathan Carr on this topic:

http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/vinyl/messages/61192.html

Hard to believe that it is almost 10 years old! WOW!!

Check this out too:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TkJ_wwkbNA

I prefer that you not "cross-channel short" the tonearm leads but rather use shorting RCA jacks OR use the Radio Shack jumpers (cat # 278-001, $6.99) to jumper each channel's center conductor to its respective outer shield.
I also suggest using a rather dynamic record and playing for a minute or so with the output cables shorted/jumpered.

Please share your findings with us - either way.
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