Orthodynamic Roundup - Page 1388

Quote:

Originally Posted by Armaegis 

Nah, the more dangerous scenario is that the magnet pops up, shifts over, then snaps back down.

Merciful heavens, yes! I should have mentioned this.

Has anyone tried an ultrasonic cleaner to clean drivers/diaphragms? It would be best to test on a hopeless diaphragm first; a powerful unit can separate glued things. I've been having such good luck cleaning phono cartridge styli using this method I thought I'd mention it.

Good link! Those guys are serious, so they bought a model with a long, deep tank. Those models tend to be a little expensive, whereas you can get a smaller, simpler but effective piezo-driver model for less than $25 shipped. Those won't do LPs, but they're plenty big enough to dunk some ortho drivers.

Even with the little plastic-lined cleaners, I repeat that I'd try an experimental dunk first before trying to clean anything that relies on adhesives, although I've cleaned many phono styli (where the diamond is held on with epoxy) and haven't lost a diamond yet. If it wasn't powerful enough to blow holes in something as fragile as aluminum foil, why bother with it?

I should emphasize that I'm only suggesting this as a last-ditch solution for someone with a nonfunctioning driver who has little or nothing to lose (like Nick N's situation), not as a tweak for clearer sound.

Thanks for the tips. At the risk of taking this thread all the way off-topic into Audiogon territory: You're right about the ME ("Magic Eraser"). I've been using bits of BASF Basotect melamine foam to clean my styli and my countertops for a few years now. It was when I came across some gunk on a very expensive boron stylus that resisted the foam and every solvent I had on hand that I resorted to the ultrasonic bath method. It not only works better for truly abused styli, it also cleans the entire stylus assembly, including the cantilever and the elastomer suspension, if it's exposed. No solvents except water and a little spray cleaner. After that, the ME treatment maintains the diamond's clean.

Some people despise the ME and favor a $50 sticky widget good for only one thing. I prefer multipurpose widgets for my money. It's a choice, y'know?

That MicroCare/Dupont Vertrel-based contact cleaner might come in handy as an adjunct to DeoxIT. Or a tape head cleaner to replace good old Freon TF.

We are fortunate to have a[n updated! thanks, ludoo!] dedicated search engine for both text and images on this thread, which has obviated the nightmare of trying to collect, edit, evaluate and re-post the mod posts, especially since people tend to have eureka moments months, sometimes years, after their initial mod rush. It was given to us by longtime ortho stalwart ludoo, and it can't help but help you. Besides, there is no single formula, no "best", no "so good no one could possibly pick it apart or improve it" mod.

It's best, I think, to try to understand some of the underlying mechanics that make sound, and the things that try to reproduce it, work; then listen, decide what needs improving the most, come up with a strategy, then see if anyone's tried it. Learn about reflection, absorption, diffusion, waves and wavelength, pressure, resonance, standing waves and cancellation and do some reading on the weirdnesses of the human ear-brain. If you read the first few pages of this thread you'll at least have an idea of what you're up against and how to solve some of the most glaring failings of the typical vintage ortho. I should say that a non-vintage ortho like the popular Fostex T50RP requires a very different problem-solving set, although all of the underlying mechanics are the same.