[]eep]

Cleaning sleeves is delicate work. Most are printed cardboard so you can't use wet cleaning. But a moist cloth is always safe. Pencil eraser is also safe.

For stickers you can use sticker remover but this can be too aggressive on printing on paper sleeves. You can also use wax (clear shoe polish). But for stickers the most important thing to use is: patience! Give the glue time to come off.

When sleeves have a plastic coating or even laminated magic eraser is great. But i have damaged some sleeves with it. Don't rub to long or hard or wet. A little detergent helps removing greasy substances like fingerprints and chocolate. Detergent and/or alcohol. I usually fill a bottle with clean water, demineralised or distilled water and add a few drops of dish washing fluid with a few ml of cleaning alcohol (spiritus, glassex w/e name). This is my formula for cleaning vinyl on the Okki Nokki but it's also great for covers.

I use textile glue for repairing split seams. It's more flexible than woodglue (pva) and adheres just as well. Never ever use tape like cellotape or duct tape. Don't. Not ever! Or you will be banished into the deepest recesses of hell. This ruines sleeves over time. And impossible to remove once the glue has dried out.

When the open side of the outer sleeve is worn, torn or frizzy I glue a strip of 120g paper behind it if needed and cut off a tiny strip of the entire sleeve with an office paper stack cutter (big knife with hinge type). This way I have a neat edge again that helps positioning the inner sleeve back with much less wear.

And when you clean the record, fix up the sleeve, please give the vinyl a new inner sleeve. You can put the old one with lyrics beside it.

 

[The Jester]

For the cost, regular replacement of inner sleeves on commonly used LP’s is a good investment, dust settles on everything quite quickly so after some regular use it’s bound to contaminate the inner sleeve, even with regular vacuuming and cleaning the Aircon filters there’s still a fine layer of dust on everything by the end of the week …

 

[]eep]

I used to use Permostat on all my new records. Never again trouble with static or dust. Only it isn't produced anymore. I should have bought a stash before it had run out but I was not aware of the urgency so I ran out. Not that it was cheap, the big refill bottles were good for about 100 lp's at 50c a pop. But it stays active. No need for much more than removing fluff with a carbon brush. I realised when I ran out I started with the desastrous needle cleaner.

 

[The Jester]

One of those “Zerostat” pistols does the job for me, still working after 30+ years …
Interesting as I go through the ongoing cleaning of Vinyl that’s been stored away for years was one album that looked immaculate even before cleaning, after the first clean and on the platter from the first needle drop there was excessive surface noise, not ticks and pops just a constant drone like tyre noise in a car, played through the first side and thought “give it another clean” …. After that the first side sounded pretty good, turned over and the second side still sounded bad, then then Penny dropped, played through the second side, cleaned again and all good…
Thinking back probably the last time it was played it would’ve been on my old Ariston turntable with a “basic” Ortofon OM10 and on the current line trace stylus of the Exact it was going deeper in the groove and the initial wash wasn’t enough to remove the gunk that’d been sitting there for maybe 30 years but softened it enough for the better stylus to dig it out, and the second clean finally removed it all, it still sounded good on the first play just the surface noise that was audible in the quieter passages ….

 

[]eep]

There can also be some mold release agent left behind on new records. That is oily agent that makes sure the newly pressed vinyl will let go of the matrix after pressing. Usually it is not harmful as there isn't much residue left. But some people insist on cleaning first.

 

[FYFL]

Ultrasonic seems to work for me. Record condition will determine cleaning time period. I’m using specially formulated solution for that purpose.

 

[FYFL]

I’m seriously considering that new ultrasonic machine from Hong Kong. Seems relatively inexpensive and so far it seems to work just fine. We will see. At the moment it’s seems to be out of stock. Once it’s is available, I’ll get one and let you know if it’s worth it.

 

[The Jester]

I’m seriously considering that new ultrasonic machine from Hong Kong. Seems relatively inexpensive and so far it seems to work just fine. We will see. At the moment it’s seems to be out of stock. Once it’s is available, I’ll get one and let you know if it’s worth it.

Good to see someone diving in head first instead of dipping a toe in the water first ….. nice ..

 

[The Jester]

There can also be some mold release agent left behind on new records. That is oily agent that makes sure the newly pressed vinyl will let go of the matrix after pressing. Usually it is not harmful as there isn't much residue left. But some people insist on cleaning first.

Maybe that’s what was at the bottom of the groove missed by the OM10, and then spent the next 30+ years setting there …

 

[CJG888]

Back in the 80s, there was some gunk available to remove the mould release agent. I’ve forgotten what it was called…

 

[]eep]

Maybe that’s what was at the bottom of the groove missed by the OM10, and then spent the next 30+ years setting there …

Completely your fault.
My first turntable was a Dual 505-2 with the 'wooden' plinth. It came with an OM10. At first I was delighted with having a real quality turntable. And I tweaked the hell out of it. But after a while, reading magazines and stuff (there was no internet, grandpa is telling a story here...) I understood that turntables were always sold with a cheap cartridge. So I started looking around. I think I was after the Denon DL110 but my local dealer only had Yamaha. So he advised me the Yamaha MC-21 high output MC. Now thàt was a revelation.

There was life, speed, openness, dynamics, bass, air, tone. I think I paid fl275 then, that's 275/2.1=~€130 in 1984. About twice what the OM10 cost then. But more than twice as good. After that I have always loathed the OM line and very weary of Ortofon in general. You can put a better needle on but it will always be 'bleh'. If that was state of the art of vinyl in the general perception it's no wonder CD could make such an entry. I have always fought an uphill battle stating that vinyl beats CD any day. I've grown weary of it over the years even though it's now pretty clear that I won. And still... I still meet people in the goodwill store that are still brainwashed with the "CD is perfect" propaganda. Saying stupid stuff like "yeah, lp's are coming back. I remember when..." Turn off the TV grandma and look around. That pertains to a lot more than just music but society in general nowadays. I won't start a rant but I find it harder and harder to stay in the matrix. There is so much to explore in creation.

So that's where I understood that there is much to gain by installing and being able to align a cartridge that you choose yourself. Be self-sufficient instead of just going with the flow. And usually a decent turntable can support a lot better cartridge.

I also received some pictures of what is coming my way.

 

[audiobill]

Back in the 80s, there was some gunk available to remove the mould release agent. I’ve forgotten what it was called…

I recall there were more than one, but the Last company who makes stylus cleaners had a product called FIRST which removed mold release agent.

 

[FYFL]

Completely your fault.
My first turntable was a Dual 505-2 with the 'wooden' plinth. It came with an OM10. At first I was delighted with having a real quality turntable. And I tweaked the hell out of it. But after a while, reading magazines and stuff (there was no internet, grandpa is telling a story here...) I understood that turntables were always sold with a cheap cartridge. So I started looking around. I think I was after the Denon DL110 but my local dealer only had Yamaha. So he advised me the Yamaha MC-21 high output MC. Now thàt was a revelation.

There was life, speed, openness, dynamics, bass, air, tone. I think I paid fl275 then, that's 275/2.1=~€130 in 1984. About twice what the OM10 cost then. But more than twice as good. After that I have always loathed the OM line and very weary of Ortofon in general. You can put a better needle on but it will always be 'bleh'. If that was state of the art of vinyl in the general perception it's no wonder CD could make such an entry. I have always fought an uphill battle stating that vinyl beats CD any day. I've grown weary of it over the years even though it's now pretty clear that I won. And still... I still meet people in the goodwill store that are still brainwashed with the "CD is perfect" propaganda. Saying stupid stuff like "yeah, lp's are coming back. I remember when..." Turn off the TV grandma and look around. That pertains to a lot more than just music but society in general nowadays. I won't start a rant but I find it harder and harder to stay in the matrix. There is so much to explore in creation.

So that's where I understood that there is much to gain by installing and being able to align a cartridge that you choose yourself. Be self-sufficient instead of just going with the flow. And usually a decent turntable can support a lot better cartridge.

I also received some pictures of what is coming my way.

Looks delicious.
And yes, Matrix is real.

 

[CJG888]

Completely your fault.
My first turntable was a Dual 505-2 with the 'wooden' plinth. It came with an OM10. At first I was delighted with having a real quality turntable. And I tweaked the hell out of it. But after a while, reading magazines and stuff (there was no internet, grandpa is telling a story here...) I understood that turntables were always sold with a cheap cartridge. So I started looking around. I think I was after the Denon DL110 but my local dealer only had Yamaha. So he advised me the Yamaha MC-21 high output MC. Now thàt was a revelation.

There was life, speed, openness, dynamics, bass, air, tone. I think I paid fl275 then, that's 275/2.1=~€130 in 1984. About twice what the OM10 cost then. But more than twice as good. After that I have always loathed the OM line and very weary of Ortofon in general. You can put a better needle on but it will always be 'bleh'. If that was state of the art of vinyl in the general perception it's no wonder CD could make such an entry. I have always fought an uphill battle stating that vinyl beats CD any day. I've grown weary of it over the years even though it's now pretty clear that I won. And still... I still meet people in the goodwill store that are still brainwashed with the "CD is perfect" propaganda. Saying stupid stuff like "yeah, lp's are coming back. I remember when..." Turn off the TV grandma and look around. That pertains to a lot more than just music but society in general nowadays. I won't start a rant but I find it harder and harder to stay in the matrix. There is so much to explore in creation.

So that's where I understood that there is much to gain by installing and being able to align a cartridge that you choose yourself. Be self-sufficient instead of just going with the flow. And usually a decent turntable can support a lot better cartridge.

I also received some pictures of what is coming my way.

Funny that, mine was too (CS 505-2 DL). That OM-10 sucked, I changed first to a Shure M95ED (a massively underrated cartridge for a low-mass arm, IMHO). Then came a Nagaoka MP-11 Boron, and there was no looking back!

 

[The Jester]

Completely your fault.
My first turntable was a Dual 505-2 with the 'wooden' plinth. It came with an OM10. At first I was delighted with having a real quality turntable. And I tweaked the hell out of it. But after a while, reading magazines and stuff (there was no internet, grandpa is telling a story here...) I understood that turntables were always sold with a cheap cartridge. So I started looking around. I think I was after the Denon DL110 but my local dealer only had Yamaha. So he advised me the Yamaha MC-21 high output MC. Now thàt was a revelation.

There was life, speed, openness, dynamics, bass, air, tone. I think I paid fl275 then, that's 275/2.1=~€130 in 1984. About twice what the OM10 cost then. But more than twice as good. After that I have always loathed the OM line and very weary of Ortofon in general. You can put a better needle on but it will always be 'bleh'. If that was state of the art of vinyl in the general perception it's no wonder CD could make such an entry. I have always fought an uphill battle stating that vinyl beats CD any day. I've grown weary of it over the years even though it's now pretty clear that I won. And still... I still meet people in the goodwill store that are still brainwashed with the "CD is perfect" propaganda. Saying stupid stuff like "yeah, lp's are coming back. I remember when..." Turn off the TV grandma and look around. That pertains to a lot more than just music but society in general nowadays. I won't start a rant but I find it harder and harder to stay in the matrix. There is so much to explore in creation.

So that's where I understood that there is much to gain by installing and being able to align a cartridge that you choose yourself. Be self-sufficient instead of just going with the flow. And usually a decent turntable can support a lot better cartridge.

I also received some pictures of what is coming my way.

That’s the other thing with analogue, looking at that photo you can start enjoying even before you hear it …
Interesting with all the “glowing comments” on the OM10 is that it’s still offered in “basic” turntables today, maybe they do that so the next level up obviously sounds better ?
As with everything, “all progress involves change, but change isn’t always progress” … as you said, with basic or “entry level” components when CD was released there wasn’t the obvious difference that was revealed with higher end gear, and compared to the early replay equipment digital has improved since then, and the recent trend by some to move away from “chip DAC’s” has got it closer than ever with modern recordings, but it still can’t live with analogue produced Vinyl,
Sad that even the RIAA EQ can be applied digitally too … luckily even digitally recorded and EQ’d Vinyl can still sound better for less hardware $$ than digital equivalents, spend serious $$ on a digital front end and the gap closes until you spend similar $$ on the analogue front end .. and … and then you pop on some analogue Vinyl and “game over” ..
I remember a show where children were questioning grandparents, “what did you do before TV ?” …
“Ah there was music on the radio, radio plays and concerts”
“What did you do before radio ?” .. Lol