Can anyone tell me about CD demagnatizers?

I have no experience with - or baseline credibility to extend to - this kind of notion or these devices. But I will tell you a highly intriguing story:

A little while ago I posted a query here about a problem I was having with a couple of new TV's I had bought and tried, only to find that B&W images were suffering from the imposition of some spurious colorations on the screen. I returned the first one because of this, but when the second one did the same thing, I wrote Sony for advice. Although they couldn't suggest anything of utimate use to me, and the problem eventually mostly went away on its own with more extended use, they did respond with a theoretical point which was very, very interesting.

Sony is of course as we all know the co-inventor and licenser of laser-read silver-disk technology. Well, when I wrote them about my TV issue, I said up-front that there were no sources of magnetism anywhere near the set to be causing my problem. Sony wrote back saying I should also make sure to remove all DVDs and CDs (along with tapes) from the immediate vicinity of the television (there were none), as these could act as sources of magnetic influence as well. Frankly, my jaw dropped when I saw this! Draw your own conclusions, but I do not believe I have ever heard or seen of any public acknowlegement of such a propostition from the industry heavyweights before, much less the one and only Sony. You just never know...

Zaike, interesting! I "clean" my cd's as follows: using an antistatic cleaner cleaner from a respectable Co (J&Son, Benckiser etc). Usually available at any local s/market, I lightly spray the printed surface (i.e. NOT the data) of the cd & wipe it off with a soft cloth.

Believe me, the digital glare goes away (mostly) & the muddle turns into more perceptible detail...

As to demagnetising, I use Densen's cd -- with variable success!

Greg, have you tried using Milty Zerostat gun or Mapleshade Icon for removing static. Would seem to be less messy than sprays if they work as advertised.

Mega, I have. The Zerostat works well with the wiring in general AND vinyl -- but doesn't seem to do much for the cd. I don't know what (if anything) I'm doing wrong. I haven't tried mapleshade, but have used Nordost's spray. I use that on speaker drivers and the cdp transport with ok-to-good results. But Nordost is too expensive for extended use.

One thing is for sure. They do alter the sound of cd's. How you evaluate this change from positive to negative is purely subjective. For me, it is a must have to be able to clear all kinds of sonic smog. Even the small hand-held Bedini provides sonic benifits that is nothing short of a mojor upgrade! Try it before spending big green on new cables or a new preamplifier...