Proper record cleaning/care/maintenance was a common topic in the “audiophile” press when I first got into higher quality audio (mid 80s). The mainstream listener was a different matter.
Most people, audiophile or not, had a record brush of some sort. Many of these were some kind of velour. And used on their own usually just trade one problem for another. Typically you got the larger dust/lint elements off the record, but in doing so built up a hefty static charge. Which often meant more pops and clicks, and usually louder!
Even from the factory, fresh vinyl tends to need to be cleaned. With new records its usually down to some residual mold-release-agent in the bottoms of the grooves. With used records there’s all manner of nasty crap in them in most cases.
So, today, a minimal “audiophile” cleaning/maintenance regimen tends to consist of:
A liquid-based deep cleaning. This can be done with fluid and wipes, a simple mechanical device like the SpinClean, vacuum based cleaners or the current “hotness” ultrasonic cleaners. And that’s about the order of effectiveness, as well as pricing!
Removing static. Cleaning, especially the vacuum approach, or any scheme in which you don’t let the records air-dry, tends to add a lot of static to the LP’s surface. This needs to be removed, so most people have something like a ZeroStat to take care of that.
Conductive record brush. This is used before each play to remove any surface lint/dust. The conductive nature helps prevent adding back the static remove in step 2. Periodically you repeat step 2 anyway.
That takes care of the record. And if you store them in appropriate liners (I like the MoFi ones), most of the time you’ll only do step 3 when it comes time to play.
Then you have stylus cleaning … which is another story …
Interesting topic. I’m surprised that direct drive turntables did not come up more.
My top vinyl setup was when I had my old Yamaha CR2020 100 Wpc receiver, Denon Dp160 (I think)
with a Moving coil cart. Nice thing about the big Yamaha was it had Both MC and MM cartridge inputs.
The Denon was a mid line model but it was dead quiet.
The Denon was replaced with my current Technics SL-1200 Mk2 with an Ortofon 2M Bronze cartridge.
Power is a Yamaha R-N500 receiver. It straddles both the digital and analogue fence. Still has phone pre amp but also internet and airplay inputs.
I still have the big Yamaha in storage but I stopped using it because I’m old and lazy. Turned into more of a digital/streaming listener. Do almost all my listening through headphones now. Sennheiser HD580 for home use and over ear Momentum 2 BT for out waking. With my self imposed budget constraint’s, I purchased an LG V40 (New old stock) dirt cheap, as my digital music source for exercise. Alleged great DAC and amp and also has all the BT codecs covered. I find that it actually drives my 300 ohm 580’s very nicely.
Back in the 70s, we washed with water and a bit of dishwashing liquid, then rinsed with distilled water and air dried. I use the SpinClean now.
@CinciJeff, take a magnifying glass and look for any chips or excessive wear on the stylus. A new cartridge in the $150 range from Grado, Ortofon, AudioTechnica, or similar big name is a suitable replacement.
I dug deep in the archives and found my old turntable. It’s a Technics SL-Q200 and the cartridge is labeled “DR300E”. I was actually able to pull up a lot of information on the table - it seems the vinyl folks are as obsessive as the headphone folks (imagine that! )
It uses P-mount cartridges (“T4P cartridge system”)
Apparently it’s actually not too bad as long as it’s level
It requries a ground wire to the amp
It retailed for $140 in 1983/84, which translates to about $350 in today’s dollars
So hopefully no need to buy a turntable!
I took a look at the needle under my strereo microscope and aside from some dust/grime it looks to be in great shape. Honestly it probably had less than 100 hours on it, so it’s no surprise it’s in good shape. Here are a couple of pix taken with my phone through the eyepiece:
I used some compressed air and a cotton pad to remove most of the dust shown in the images. So now I just need to find a phono stage and see how it sounds. I’m pretty sure I still have an old Sony stereo receiver that has one, so I’ll start there.
By chance have you come across whether there is a certain cart profile that suits headphone listening more so than 2 channel listening? I’m wondering if less incisive carts may be more desirable over their higher end brethren, even though some information and noise are left on the table.
Good question! I have no idea but I would assume there are characteristics that would make some carts better
for headphones than others. I’m using the best cartridge I could ever probably hope to own, a Soundsmith Sussuro (that I luckily got at a huge discount because it was used, and via my turntable guy), and what I’m finding is that I can hear a lot of what makes the cartridge good … (and also exactly how dirty the LP is!) , even though I’ve listened to it thru a great regular two channel high end system. Certain things just come more to light, I reckon … but this would be a question for someone like a Herb Reichert, or maybe there’s someone on the forum w/an investment in vinyl. I know Grover raves about the Modwright preamp (one of the reasons I got it), so maybe he has some experience wiith different carts into different headphones.
I don’t change carts often, because it’s a pain in the rear to ensure that a cart is properly set up. On the high end, some tables have 2 or 3 tone arms so that you may easily try and use different cartridges.
My SWAG (Sophisticated Wild Ass Guess) is that there are many factors that are important to both good stereo with loudspeakers and headphones, and very few that would favor one method of moving air over another. Offhand, a good cart tracks the groove of your record well. This is a function of stylus shape and condition, contact angles, condition of the record groove, how the stylus is able to move in the cartridge and what forces act on the lever, fulcrum, and weight of either the magnets or coils that are being moved.
Once we move out of the actual cart, and look at the phono preamp, there is correction applied to the signal (RIAA curve) which is necessary due to industry standards for cutting the record grooves — think about the physical shape of the sound waves being laid down on the record, and the amplitude needed to deal with soft to loud, high and low etc. Over there years there have been various standards, and some pre-amps are able to adjust.
My point is that there is so much going on in the physical realm, and so much more in the electrical processing after that, it is (most likely) not a consideration of a cartridge is better for headphones or better for speakers. Simply if it is better or worse. That said, it would be interesting if someone would interview Grado on this subject, as they were known first for cartridges and later for headphones.
Perhaps characteristics that are key are having a source that lowers the noise floor and doesn’t exacerbate hiss. This may be impacted more by the cart and phono stage in tandem rather than just the cart.
If we take Ortofon for example, going from the Bronze to the Black gets you a more revealing cart, for better or worse. That probably applies outside of the vinyl headphones listening realm also, but for vinyl headphone listening where one’s ears are that much closer to the transducer, maximum excavation may be less important and desirable.
Properly cleaning your records is going to be more important than your cart. I use the manual Spin-Clean system, which works and isn’t too expensive. I use high-quality inner sleeves, and never scratchy paper ones.
My current turntable is a VPI Prime Scout, and I am using an Ortofon Bronze Cart (Just below Black) Adequate for my needs. If you buy one of the major cart manufacturers there are still economies of scale. Diminishing returns set in as with anything, particularly when you get into boutique brands.
Also, people using Moving Coil (MC) vs Moving Magnet (MM) need to be aware that they require regular degaussing (maintenance) and not all phono pre-amps handle both types of cartridge.
Thanks for the tips. I should revisit my maintenance protocols.
Sexy table. I also have an Ortofon Bronze which currently suits my needs and sits at a nice sweet spot for performance and being easy to live with (also criteria for a spouse?). I have also come to appreciate the value of economies of scale for cartridges. My ears like what they hear and I’m not currently compelled to go MC with non-replaceable styli and step up transformers.
Actually, Barbie (my spouse) bought me the turntable. She claims she married me for my stereo back in 1976, and she’s been making occasional improvements. As this puts me in the realm of the truly blessed, I can only hope she never decides to start over with a new rig.
@bpcarb … Kind of in response to the pandemic and so much time at home I went kind of overboard, including getting the Stratus … had a great deal on the cart and was able to trade in old gear for credit and only paid $900 on top for the pre-amp. It may be audiophilia nervosa, but I was feeling dissatisfied with the Stratus fed by digital from a (good) 8-year-old DAC in an integrated, coming from a Mac Mini, pulling down a wireless signal. and also wanted to hear LPs in an all-analog chain (rather than fed into a digital amp’s phono stage – still excellent nonetheless) so I could make both happen with a separate ph0no stage … and even though things are still breaking in, and some tweaking is needed (grounding, mainly, which isn’t needed running just the digital), I can already tell a dramatic difference in the listening experience. It’s not even close (although I would need to compare with the headphone output on the digital integrated … )
I have nothing else to compare with the Modwright, really, but it strikes me as the potential leader in its class … the other option was the PS Audio.
Good deal. I’m glad your all-analog chain is satisfying.
I’ve been quite happy with my Holo Spring DAC for my digital chain, where it’s caused me to make moves to elevate my vinyl setup. I have a Lehmann Black Cube SE phono stage arriving later this week.
How would you split the investment between turntable + arm, cartridge, and phono stage. Let’s say you were to spend $10k total. How would you spend it?
Lots of very good solutions below that price level, although there has been price creep since I bought my setup. I’m happy with my VPI Prime Scout with an Ortofon 2M Bronze. I could see bumping to the full prime and a 2M Black. Or other solutions from Rega, Clearaudio, and the usual suspects. I don’t see much advantage to going to a MC cart, especially at first.
One can spend whatever you want for a phono pre-amp, but with good brands you get everything you need at a pretty basic level. I have a Musical Fidelity phono pre-amp which is under $200, and it just does its job fine. If you plan on spinning historic vinyl, I could see a higher end phono pre-amp that allows switching of historic equalization curves other than RIAA, but for anything from 1950 on, you won’t need it.
Assuming you plan to use … ahem … speakers - I’d put budget there.
As for what dark corner I’m pulling this advice, much of it is been there done that (although years ago, and sometimes with friends’ systems too). I’d guess that you could save $1K on turntable/arm, $2K on the cart, and $500+ on the phono stage without significant deterioration in sound. It’s a matter of where the sweet spot in the product lines are.
You might also consider adding a record cleaning budget. I use a manual system that has a cleaner mixed with distilled water and lint-free towels because I’m cheap. There’s a discussion in the forum if you search.
Been enjoying my VPI Classic feed by a Manley Chinook and of late I’ve been using a Ortofon Cadenza Bronze cartridge on loan from a store owner friend of mine in place my Lyra Kleos.
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