Nice to know I've been using your fluid the right way Paul.
Hate to go back and do 300odd LPs again!
Originally Posted by
PaulStewart
I did not want to comment on this, because as you know I make and sell a record cleaning fluid and I don't want to be accused of "Shiling" However, there seem to be so many misconceptions about what should go into a good RCM fluid and how it should be used that I want to clarify a few points.
1) If you are having to brush for 2 or three minutes, the wetness of the fluid is wrong and no matter how long you brush, you won't reach the bottom of the groove. The wetting agent has to be of a seeking type that causes capillary action to draw the fluid into the groove and soak the detritus trapped there.
2) Soak time, it takes a maximum of 10 second for the capillary action to cause the fluid to get as far down the groove as it will get, after that, about 10 seconds soak time will loosen the crud as much as possible WITH EACH APPLICATION, it may be that it more than one go, but leaving the fluid longer makes no difference, once it's done all it can, it's done all it can, it becomes saturated and you need to use some more.
3) Enzyme cleaners are detrimental to your records if not rinsed off and to your RCM, especially the point nozzle type, rinsed or not. I've lost count of the number of machines I've had to strip down and clean out because the growth many people have seen in the bottle with fluids such as L'Art du Son, occurs in the pipework of you RCM and when it dries out it leaves a black powdery residue that jams the machine. The best degreasant is Isopropanol anyway. It also kills mould and bacteria if mixed with water, so why would you need anything else?
4) Ilfatol as a wetting agent. As a photographer, I used Ilfatol for years, but it's not anti static, that's why Ilford sell anti stat film wipes. Part of the formula has to be an anti stat, Oh and by the way don't use Kodak Photo-Flo if you can still get it as it contains products which are anti stat, but are also de-vinylising.
Cheers
Last edited by Gazjam; 16-05-2015 at 20:28.
AC POWER
Hardwired 10kVA balanced mains powering entire system
AMPS
Meridian 557 power Amp (Modded) / PS Audio BHK Preamp (Modded)
SPEAKERS
Wharfedale Evo 4.4
DAC
PS Audio Directstream (Modded)
TURNTABLE
Pro-Ject X8 balanced output via XLR / Ortofon Quintet Blue cartridge
PHONOSTAGE
Pro-Ject DS3 B balanced Input (TT and Phonostage powered by Pro-Ject Power box RS2 linear psu)
DIGITAL
OPPO 203 (Modded: Linear PSU, i2s output to Dac) - Roon Endpoint, HDMI input used for all things Streaming/ PS5 /AppleTV ... also good for movies apparently?
MUSIC PLAYBACK
Tweaked AP-Linux based Roon Server into Oppo 203 as Roon endpoint
Ipad Roon Remote.
Apple Music/ YouTube via AppleTV, fed to Dac via Oppo HDMI input/i2s output to Dac.
SPEAKER CABLES
Biwired: Duelund DCA10GA (Bass) Duelund DCA16GA (mid & treble) Duelund 12DCA used as jumpers (On "Blackcat Cable" Chris Sommivigo's advice - yup, even with biwire it sounds better - and it does)
INTERCONNECTS
All Balanced: Ghost+ recording studio XLR cables