[sfo1972]

  Wow it's about double the price for a clear "special edition" Spin clean? I thought the price was crazy before! I don't know from experience but on a thread somewhere else they seemed to think Mofi sleeves were best I think. That anti static stylus brush seems interesting. Wonder if it works well. I've been using a cotton swab and checking it with a microscope all the time. Kind of crazy but its fun.

Yeah, its an additional supply of solution and rags.  Seems like a good deal in the long run.
 
I have seen lots of people on youtube washing their vinyl in the sink, while it seems like an ok approach the peeling of the sticked at the center is inevitable.  I have also seen some crazy stuff on youtube, like applying wood glue and let it dry overnight then peel it. The other one is the styles cleaning with a brush and some kind of a solution as well - quite a bit of stylus cleaning brush and liquid are offered on Amazon and other sites. But I found on the Ortofon website a warning against using any kind of a solution on the stylus.
 
Cheers

 

[yeahx]

Yeah I read about alcohol releasing stylus tips after I did it but luckily the tip on my cheapo cartridge doesn't appear to be glued in so it works well. It's great to see it before and after. I noticed there are some cheap jewel microscope for about $6 on amazon and I would recommend them to anyone even if just for the fun of it. I got my microscope cheap at a thrift store and its only 30X but thats plenty.

 

[sfo1972]

  Yeah I read about alcohol releasing stylus tips after I did it but luckily the tip on my cheapo cartridge doesn't appear to be glued in so it works well. It's great to see it before and after. I noticed there are some cheap jewel microscope for about $6 on amazon and I would recommend them to anyone even if just for the fun of it. I got my microscope cheap at a thrift store and its only 30X but thats plenty.

So how do you do this? You peer into the stylus tip using the microscope to see if there is any dirt clogging the stylus? Can you post a link to the one on Amazon?

 

[yeahx]

The one I have is an older version of this one. The clear part slides off (on the model I have which looks almost the same as this) so I can get close enough. At first I would remove the headshell but now I just get up close, aim it and look through, then move it around until I can see the stylus clearly.
 
http://www.amazon.com/SE-MW10084-Illuminated-Microscope-Magnification/dp/B000OVHVVQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1428228221&sr=8-1&keywords=micronta+illuminated+microscope
 
But I imagine something like this could maybe be better?
 
http://www.amazon.com/Microscope-Jeweler-Currency-Magnifier-Adjustable/dp/B00AQAANDS/ref=pd_cp_hi_3

 

[mironathetin]

 
Lol....I am glad you figured it out. I have been dragging my feet on buying the cleaning supplies for my TT setup. Here is what I have in mind, what do you think?
 
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00904KS0Y/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pd_S_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=1KYBTEMQEPOEZ&coliid=I2299ZEDVJ0YZD
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001A9ST2G/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=1KYBTEMQEPOEZ&coliid=I1F8RWSEXRNJ7U
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IRDLE8Y/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=1KYBTEMQEPOEZ&coliid=I16BC3Q84Y8619
 
I also think these will come in handy:
http://www.amazon.com/RPM-Record-Sleeves-100-Count/dp/B003NG2WIG/ref=pd_sim_op_6?ie=UTF8&refRID=081AZA9PRTREYT3YZFMF

I have a carbon brush (you can see it lying on the turntable). This is useful. I also use it to clean the stylus, if blowing does not help - well, you read the story. And I bought new record sleeves, too. Some of the original ones don't look good any more and after cleaning the Lps I indeed replaced some. The prices for the brushes, on the other hand, seem to be very high. I paid like 9,90 for the carbon brush and its a good one.
 
Concerning the washing machine: ... A record dealer in my town offers the service for 1,90 per LP. He has a couple of professional cleaning machines. I also bought a record cleaning spray and a mircofiber cleaning cloth. Works fine.
A good cleaning solution is 20% isopropanol, 80% destilled water and a few drops of washing up liquid (to lower the surface tension of the liquid. This way it easily gets into the grooves). Put on the LP (careful with the label), wipe clean and dry with the microfiber cloth (always in groove direction). Perfect and dirt cheap. The professional spray is composed like that too. Don't play before the LP is really dry (alcohol may resolve glue and damage the stylus).
 
But this would be a great question to the experienced, 20.000 LP owning guys: how do you effectively remove static and clean old LPs?

 

[sfo1972]

 

 
Lol....I am glad you figured it out. I have been dragging my feet on buying the cleaning supplies for my TT setup. Here is what I have in mind, what do you think?
 
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00904KS0Y/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pd_S_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=1KYBTEMQEPOEZ&coliid=I2299ZEDVJ0YZD
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001A9ST2G/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=1KYBTEMQEPOEZ&coliid=I1F8RWSEXRNJ7U
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IRDLE8Y/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=1KYBTEMQEPOEZ&coliid=I16BC3Q84Y8619
 
I also think these will come in handy:
http://www.amazon.com/RPM-Record-Sleeves-100-Count/dp/B003NG2WIG/ref=pd_sim_op_6?ie=UTF8&refRID=081AZA9PRTREYT3YZFMF

I have a carbon brush (you can see it lying on the turntable). This is useful. I also use it to clean the stylus, if blowing does not help - well, you read the story. And I bought new record sleeves, too. Some of the original ones don't look good any more and after cleaning the Lps I indeed replaced some. The prices for the brushes, on the other hand, seem to be very high. I paid like 9,90 for the carbon brush and its a good one.
 
Concerning the washing machine: ... A record dealer in my town offers the service for 1,90 per LP. He has a couple of professional cleaning machines. I also bought a record cleaning spray and a mircofiber cleaning cloth. Works fine.
A good cleaning solution is 20% isopropanol, 80% destilled water and a few drops of washing up liquid (to lower the surface tension of the liquid. This way it easily gets into the grooves). Put on the LP (careful with the label), wipe clean and dry with the microfiber cloth (always in groove direction). Perfect and dirt cheap. The professional spray is composed like that too. Don't play before the LP is really dry (alcohol may resolve glue and damage the stylus).
 
But this would be a great question to the experienced, 20.000 LP owning guys: how do you effectively remove static and clean old LPs?

@Shaffer, I think the question above is for your bro...

 

[sfo1972]

 

 
Lol....I am glad you figured it out. I have been dragging my feet on buying the cleaning supplies for my TT setup. Here is what I have in mind, what do you think?
 
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00904KS0Y/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pd_S_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=1KYBTEMQEPOEZ&coliid=I2299ZEDVJ0YZD
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001A9ST2G/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=1KYBTEMQEPOEZ&coliid=I1F8RWSEXRNJ7U
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IRDLE8Y/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=1KYBTEMQEPOEZ&coliid=I16BC3Q84Y8619
 
I also think these will come in handy:
http://www.amazon.com/RPM-Record-Sleeves-100-Count/dp/B003NG2WIG/ref=pd_sim_op_6?ie=UTF8&refRID=081AZA9PRTREYT3YZFMF

I have a carbon brush (you can see it lying on the turntable). This is useful. I also use it to clean the stylus, if blowing does not help - well, you read the story. And I bought new record sleeves, too. Some of the original ones don't look good any more and after cleaning the Lps I indeed replaced some. The prices for the brushes, on the other hand, seem to be very high. I paid like 9,90 for the carbon brush and its a good one.
 
Concerning the washing machine: ... A record dealer in my town offers the service for 1,90 per LP. He has a couple of professional cleaning machines. I also bought a record cleaning spray and a mircofiber cleaning cloth. Works fine.
A good cleaning solution is 20% isopropanol, 80% destilled water and a few drops of washing up liquid (to lower the surface tension of the liquid. This way it easily gets into the grooves). Put on the LP (careful with the label), wipe clean and dry with the microfiber cloth (always in groove direction). Perfect and dirt cheap. The professional spray is composed like that too. Don't play before the LP is really dry (alcohol may resolve glue and damage the stylus).
 
But this would be a great question to the experienced, 20.000 LP owning guys: how do you effectively remove static and clean old LPs?

BTW-While this is not related, I am curious about your Avatar. Is this one of your tube pre-amps? If yes, what is it and how do you like it?

 

[mironathetin]

 
BTW-While this is not related, I am curious about your Avatar. Is this one of your tube pre-amps? If yes, what is it and how do you like it?

 
My Avatar shows an all tube Earmax Silver Edition Headphone amp with my old Sennheiser HD 650 Heaphones. A great combination. In the meantime, the HD 650 has been replaced by a HD 800.
 
The Earmax is a great sounding amp, It was popular years ago with high impedance headphones. I don't know how it compares to Schiit or Woo amps. I had a Musical Fidelity X-Can V8 before and the Earmax sounded so much better, after 5 seconds of listening to it, it was clear the X-Can has to go. That's rare. Usually you have to concentrate, listen carefully, compare. Not here.
I also challenged it with a Lehmann black cube linear. The linear is gone too ).
In fact, since I have the Earmax, I never thought about updating the amp again.
 
Its a German made amp, so the price will be high in the US:
http://www.tubeampdoctor.com/product_info.php?category_id=93&products_id=1148&language=en
 
Here is a kind of review (has more references in it):
http://www.head-fi.org/t/635784/lcd-2-amps-earmax-silver-and-lehmann-black-cube-linear

 

[sfo1972]

 

 
BTW-While this is not related, I am curious about your Avatar. Is this one of your tube pre-amps? If yes, what is it and how do you like it?

 
My Avatar shows an all tube Earmax Silver Edition Headphone amp with my old Sennheiser HD 650 Heaphones. A great combination. In the meantime, the HD 650 has been replaced by a HD 800.
 
The Earmax is a great sounding amp, It was popular years ago with high impedance headphones. I don't know how it compares to Schiit or Woo amps. I had a Musical Fidelity X-Can V8 before and the Earmax sounded so much better, after 5 seconds of listening to it, it was clear the X-Can has to go. That's rare. Usually you have to concentrate, listen carefully, compare. Not here.
I also challenged it with a Lehmann black cube linear. The linear is gone too ).
In fact, since I have the Earmax, I never thought about updating the amp again.
 
Its a German made amp, so the price will be high in the US:
http://www.tubeampdoctor.com/product_info.php?category_id=93&products_id=1148&language=en
 
Here is a kind of review (has more references in it):
http://www.head-fi.org/t/635784/lcd-2-amps-earmax-silver-and-lehmann-black-cube-linear#post_8885419

Thanks for the info. Boy the Amp looks really great and the specs are also nice. I am a big sucker for 6DJ8, aka E88CC or 6922, tubes now because of my Lyr2. I use it as my primary tube pre-amp stage in my chain of equipment before it goes to Integ Amp then Speakers. I also noticed they make a phono-stage pre-amp as well that looks really interesting.
 
Its about 1,000 USD (899 Euros) which is not that bad in today's standards.
 
Cheers.

 

[mironathetin]

 
I also noticed they make a phono-stage pre-amp as well that looks really interesting.
 
Its about 1,000 USD (899 Euros) which is not that bad in today's standards.
 
Cheers.

Yes, the Phonomax. It gets phantastic reviews too and was high on my list as a phono stage. But since we weren't sure if a turntable is a good idea at all, I tried to keep the investment low. I am happy with the Graham Slee so far. It's uncomplicated.

 

[mironathetin]

Originally Posted by sfo1972 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
 
But this would be a great question to the experienced, 20.000 LP owning guys: how do you effectively remove static and clean old LPs?

@Shaffer, I think the question above is for your bro...

Not only to Shaffer. I hope there are many silently following LP collectors who are amused about this discussion.
Any qualified replies are welcome.
 
In the meantime, we can read this thread http://www.head-fi.org/t/266301/the-official-record-cleaning-fetish-thread

 

[Eee Pee]

VPI 16.5 for records
Milty anti static gun
Magic eraser for stylus
MoFi sleeves

And what's with quoting the 5000 words making me scroll this much?

 

[sfo1972]

Here is an update for all of you looking through the thread, after 6 months of setting up an entry level turntable as outlined in this post:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/750575/selecting-your-first-turntable-setup-get-the-biggest-bang-for-your-buck-keep-it-under-2000/15#post_11320729

I can safely say that I am extremely pleased and satisfied with the outcome. I love vinyl and find it warmer, more inviting, and more engaging than any other high fidelity medium. I have built up a collection close to 40+ records in the past 6 months and thoroughly enjoy the setup. Finding new releases of current music is a challenge and artists usually do it as a PR stunt, but there is a lot of focus to bring more LPs to the market by different labels.

My biggest challenge is finding a good way to deep clean my records, albeit there are crazy ways on YouTube and head-fi. It seems that I will be going the Spin Clean way, as it looks to be the fastest, cleanest, and most common sense way to do this with the least amount of effort and time,

Cheers

 

[sfo1972]

Here is an update for all of you looking through the thread, after 6 months of setting up an entry level turntable as outlined in this post:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/750575/selecting-your-first-turntable-setup-get-the-biggest-bang-for-your-buck-keep-it-under-2000/15#post_11320729

I can safely say that I am extremely pleased and satisfied with the outcome. I love vinyl and find it warmer, more inviting, and more engaging than any other high fidelity medium. I have built up a collection close to 40+ records in the past 6 months and thoroughly enjoy the setup. Finding new releases of current music is a challenge and artists usually do it as a PR stunt, but there is a lot of focus to bring more LPs to the market by different labels.

My biggest challenge is finding a good way to deep clean my records, albeit there are crazy ways on YouTube and head-fi. It seems that I will be going the Spin Clean way, as it looks to be the fastest, cleanest, and most common sense way to do this with the least amount of effort and time,

Cheers

I forgot to mention that I will most probably start researching an upgrade at the 12-months mark. As I definitely love this medium.

 

[swspiers]

I forgot to mention that I will most probably start researching an upgrade at the 12-months mark. As I definitely love this medium.

And again, the wallet weeps...
 
Looking at my first analogue purchase in like 38 years myself.  the U-Turn really has my attention, and I'm looking for ENTRY level, and only for specific vinyl purchases.  this thread was great- even the snarky parts-