wrote:
ScottW wrote:
Ok... I'm gonna get a nitty gritty for my birthday (George
promised).... but I have some
doubts.

I got the disc doctor kit some time back and spent time diligently
cleaning about a half dozen old albums that were noisy.... improvements
were little to none IMO and hardly worth the effort.

I recently got a couple Classic Records (Didos) album through
themusic.com which offers a hand selection for warp, scratches and a
"professional cleaning" free on audiophile records.

I got the albums and the first thing I note is that the don't come out
of the poly lined sleeves dust free. They appear to use the same
sleeves I got a bulk pack of... and the damn things are full of dust
right out the pack..... you'd think after paying $33/album for an
audiophile pressing they'd make sure to package them in a dust free
sleeve. I diligently remove surface dust with a discwasher before
every playing.

Anyway... I played a Classic Records copy of Sara MClachlin Surfacing
without cleaning and the Dido albums with cleaning (both their latest
quiex sv-p vinyl)... and IMO, surfacing is just as quiet or even
quieter than the Dido albums. One of the didos is a bit noisy on the
lead in.
I had hoped that cleaning the records before a stylus touched them
would be a significant improvement... but apparently not in this small
sample.

And in another rant... the heavy jacket protector they use to replace
the original since it gets opened, is so tight it takes too much effort
to put the album away.

So....I'm still getting the nitty gritty (George)... and I hope its
worth it.

ScottW

Check this out, Scott:

http://audioenz.co.nz/2006/vinyl_noise.shtml

Nice article...... I've been contemplating a real rinse (distilled
bath and brush if I can find the right size pan) with the disc doctor
stuff followed by a the nitty vaccuum. I rigged a homemade vaccuum
with wand and shop vac for a source but its just too unwieldy so I'm
going for the nitty gritty.
I don't mind taking the time for a thorough wash (not before every play
mind you) if it will yield real benefit. The few albums I have like
yours that are tic free have been so from the beginning.

Maybe Classic Records isn't a good test case for virgin vinyl as
they seem to be doing a pretty good (but not perfect) job pressing.

How about a source for dust free sleeves? I swear I'm gonna start
vacuuming out the new ones I got before using them.

ScottW