Record cleaning

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Jeff....I also notice you strongly recommend the Furutech Demagnetiser. Has anyone ever measured the magnetic field strength emanating from a piece of non-virgin vinyl?

As you've implied, the general incredulous reaction to a record demagnetiser is "It's plastic for goodness sake !" but it is an interesting idea nevertheless, because although the Earths magnetic field is relatively strong and omnipresent, the cartridge has comparatively little movement relative to it, while a record containing "hotspots" of residual magnetism due to ferrous contaminants in the vinyl, is travelling past the cartridge at a fair speed...so after a bit of thought, the idea may not be as ludicrous as it sounds....

Did you review this item in ToneAudio ?
 
We did review the Furutech a while back in issue 16.

I won't entertain any arguments about all the science behind the Furutech, because I'm really not qualified. I just know that when I walked into the Furutech room at CES two years ago with a good friend that has a Masters in Electrical Engineering and a PhD in Physics, we were both extremely skeptical and were ready to harass the presenter.

But, we heard a very marked difference between discs treated on the de mag and untreated ones. However, I must admit I've never been able to hear a diff on CD's treated with the Furutech and I've tried every combination of disc there is.

I would compare the effect of the Furutech to going up a step in cartridge from wherever you are now. The overall presentation is less grainy and the highs are smoother. Every person who's ever heard it here (mostly non audiophiles) have heard the same thing, and while they usually don't know how to describe it, they always make the same comments, "there's more music", "the music sounds clearer than before, etc. etc."

This is a fairly expensive addition to anyone's system and I would always suggest addressing room and setup issues (get that coffee table out of the room, that rack of gear and/or TV out from between the speakers!) way before buying one of these. $2000 spent on room treatment will give you a much bigger bang for your buck than a Furutech DeMag.

However, once you have that stuff done and your turntable optimized, I think you will hear enough of a diff using the DeMag to want one if it makes sense for your budget. I think if you hear a proper dem, you will be as impressed as I was.
 
Older thread, but I figure I continue the topic instead of starting another "record cleaning" topic.

I bought a Spin Clean Record Washer last week and I tried it out for the first time. I cleaned about 50 records and the results were amazing. The bath water after was disgusting. I couldn't believe how much "dirt" came off those LP's. If anybody is looking for a relatively cheap solution to cleaning records (ie not spending $500 plus on cleaning unit) I would look into this. It comes with a small bottle of solution but I think it's good for cleaning at least 500 if not more records. It is quite manually intensive but not bad (I would say about 2 minutes per record from taking it out of the sleeve, cleaning, drying, and replacing). Oh, and it's actually made in the US and not China!

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Yeah, that's a pretty good buy. I just use my old VPI 16.5 cleaner. I've cleaned hundreds of records on it and the only maintenance is to replace the arm wand from time to time. I've got three wands for backups.
 
Yeah, that's a pretty good buy. I just use my old VPI 16.5 cleaner. I've cleaned hundreds of records on it and the only maintenance is to replace the arm wand from time to time. I've got three wands for backups.

The VPI is a great machine. I was looking at it when I bought this. I simply don't have a huge number of records so I couldn't justify spending $600ish on the VPI. This cost me $80 total and it seems to do a good job for now.
 
+1 on the Spin Clean. I'm not ready to spend $100's on clearning records.
 
+1 on the Spin Clean. I'm not ready to spend $100's on clearning records.

Spin clean works nice, I use mine as a pre-clean scrubbing device prior to final clean on my VPI. As far as spending '$100's' on cleaning records, IMO my LP's and CD's are my 'investments' , the equipment is merely the highway from which they are enjoyed !
 
Spin clean works nice, I use mine as a pre-clean scrubbing device prior to final clean on my VPI. As far as spending '$100's' on cleaning records, IMO my LP's and CD's are my 'investments' , the equipment is merely the highway from which they are enjoyed !

I couldn't agree more Dave, I've easily got 10 times more invested in music than I do in equipment, and my equipment ain't too shabby.

I've been thinking about picking up a Spin Clean for exactly the same reason, to use it as a Pre-cleaning tool ahead of the VPI.
 
I couldn't agree more Dave, I've easily got 10 times more invested in music than I do in equipment, and my equipment ain't too shabby.

I've been thinking about picking up a Spin Clean for exactly the same reason, to use it as a Pre-cleaning tool ahead of the VPI.
Tim, why not just get an additional VPI brush and change out brushes. Seems that would be a much easier solution.
 
Tim, why not just get an additional VPI brush and change out brushes. Seems that would be a much easier solution.

Steve, IMO, the scubbing action of the spin clean is superb, whereas I agree a second brush and wand for ones VPI would also do the trick.
 
pathetic......$120 for what........$25 worth of PVC !
 
twich54-
I can see your point. I use a spin clean, and although it's cheap plastic, I can at least justify the cost as they have a custom mold that they designed for the system. The dandy looks like parts bought off the shelf from home depot so you can essentially make it in your garage vs having to design/test/have a factory,.. etc.
 
I love the part in the review where they say they sprayed a fine mist of water all over the place with it. I think they liked the end result, but where would you use it? Maybe only in the Summertime, wearing a swimming suit and outdoors? I know that's an exaggeration, but I'd want a device I could use without soaking down the room.
 
Has anyone got any long-term reliability issues to report on the Audio Desk Systeme? (I realise it's a bit of a rarity but am surprised at the number of folk who own one :)

I've only ever heard of one fault thus far - a plumbing leak which exited via the mains socket on the machine. :O
 
I've just ordered a Spin Clean Record Washer. I can't wait until it arrives to try it. For the money, I can't go wrong.
 
I bought an Okki Nokki (the same as the cheapest Clearaudio, but at half te price) Vacuum RCM. It really does wonders. I buy a lot of old second hand classical on vinyl. The difference is amazing! More surprising, though, is the difference on brand new vinyl! HUGE!!!
 
Excellent choice Bevensee. :)
A slight negative is that suppliers tend to sell the acrylic cover separately and that adds £50 to the cost.... :(

Kind regards,
 
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