need a turntable

[cgibsong002]

now this is what i'm talking about. made up some solution of roughly 3/4s of a bottle of distilled water, the rest with 91% alcohol, and a drop of dish detergent. used that with my dad's old discwasher microfiber cleaning brush. still the slightest bit of crackle, but only noticeable on stops in the music for the most part. this is more of the type of crackle that i'd associate with vinyl music, rather than a type of crackle that gets annoying.

listening to my first record, led zep IV

edit: actually a slight problem with my right channel occasionally cutting out. not sure where the problem arises as i used to have a problem with the right channel on my receiver, but am now listening to the receiver through headphones. so i don't know if that original problem (that was never technically fixed) was a speaker output problem or a channel problem. also could just as easily be a wire problem, cartridge problem, or headshell problem. i did just notice that i never tightened the screw that was on top of the headshell, so i'll see if that fixed everything.

[02audionoob]

It might just be one of the controls in your receiver. For instance, I went a few years without using the phono input on my Kenwood preamp. When I started using it again, one channel started cutting out. I cleaned the controls with contact cleaner and it all worked fine again.

[Brett A]

now this is what i'm talking about. made up some solution of roughly 3/4s of a bottle of distilled water, the rest with 91% alcohol, and a drop of dish detergent.(...)

edit: actually a slight problem with my right channel occasionally cutting out. not sure where the problem arises (...).

Good you're up-and-cleaning. It's often a necessary step in getting clear music from an LP. If you were interested in knowing the various popular ways of cleaning LPs, there's days and days worth of reading online. I have a DIY set up that involves the solution you're talking about applied with a fresh, natural bristle paintbrush, then vacuumed off. The a repeat with clean distilled water and a different fresh paintbrush, then i vacuum that off with a different clean vacuum schnozzle. i have a platform to do this with that i made out of an old turntable.

Anyway.. that's maybe more involved than we/I/you need to get right now.

As for the channel cutting out, it seems like you're on to the possible causes. I hope it's something simple (it usually is IME)

[cgibsong002]

it seems like its just my receiver. its an old 70's or 80's and i've had that problem with it before. i'll be able to know for sure when i bring the table up to my other house where my other receiver is.

and about the cleaning.. while i was searching for solutions i found plenty of posts of DIY cleaners with vacuums and all these processes and just couldn't help myself from laughing at vacuuming a vinyl at this point, a small bottle of cleaner solution and a record specific brush is plenty i don't have many records and they were all bought used in the first place.

[02audionoob]

It's the used records that benefit from vacuuming. I wet-clean and vacuum every used record I buy. It makes a huge difference.

[JoeE SP9]

it seems like its just my receiver. its an old 70's or 80's and i've had that problem with it before. i'll be able to know for sure when i bring the table up to my other house where my other receiver is.

and about the cleaning.. while i was searching for solutions i found plenty of posts of DIY cleaners with vacuums and all these processes and just couldn't help myself from laughing at vacuuming a vinyl at this point, a small bottle of cleaner solution and a record specific brush is plenty i don't have many records and they were all bought used in the first place.

A good RCM is almost a necessity if you buy used vinyl in any quantity. Even new vinyl gets a turn on my Record Doctor RCM.

The Spin Clean is technically not an RCM. However, it does an excellent job and costs around $80. The Gem Dandy ($149) is another device that does an excellent job. KAB sells an RCM (~$150) without a built in vacuum motor. You connect the hose from your vacuum cleaner to it for the vacuum.

[Brett A]

It's true that LPs can be played and enjoyed without an elaborate cleaning process. But you might get to the point that many of us did where you want your records to play clean, quiet, and unvieled (for lack of a better word)

There's no substitute for getting a vacuum involved in the process; a vacuum will actually remove the contaminants from the grooves. A wet-wipe will leave quite a lot behind to dry back on causing pops, clicks, distortion and a subtle viel over the music you might not know was there until it's gone. Also, playing only clean LPs will prolong the life of your stylus.

All that said, you may find that you enjoy LPs just fine without all this fuss.

Rock on!!

[Enochrome]

Guys,

Can you elaborate a little on the wet vac approach. My question is:

How do you the nozzle of the wet vac getting the particles out without scratching
the record? Is it a matter of just being careful?

[cgibsong002]

Oh, I'm sure I'll eventually get one of those. But for now there's no point in having a device that costs me more than my records and TT combined. For that price I could just buy an extra stylus and backup copies of all my records. These are all just $1-$2 records that I picked up used. But again, I'm just getting into all this. I plan to gradually expand and upgrade, and I'll probably consider it in the future

[02audionoob]

Guys,

Can you elaborate a little on the wet vac approach. My question is:

How do you the nozzle of the wet vac getting the particles out without scratching
the record? Is it a matter of just being careful?

My method involves this...

[Enochrome]

Aaahhhh yes Obi Won, you are wise beyond your years.

[Brett A]

Guys,

Can you elaborate a little on the wet vac approach. My question is:

How do you the nozzle of the wet vac getting the particles out without scratching
the record? Is it a matter of just being careful?

I made two schnozzles, one for wash, one for rinse, out of crevice tools by plugging the end, cutting a slot and lining with strips of paint pad.

I'll post more later. Right now, I'm sitting in an Indian resturant typing on my phone

[Brett A]

OK. Her's a picture of the schnozzle I made.(it's sitting on my record cleaning set-up, BTW)

I cut the suction slot the same width as the playing surface of an LP. To cut this slot, I heated a narrow putty knife with a plumber's torch (like a hot knife through butter, only more toxic with a much greater threat of burning the house down (I did it outside))

The furry strips on either side of the slot were cut from a paint pad refill (About $3 at the hardware store) and mounted with two-sided Scotch tape which works well to hold them firmly, but not so much that I can't change them out easily after some use.

I plugged the end with a small block of wood and electrical tape.




Anyway, there it is. have fun! (or don't)