POSITIVE FEEDBACK ONLINE - ISSUE 44
Sonic Satori - Some Accessories for Your Audio/Music Toys by Michael Mercer
The moment passion and excitement turn into a hobby there is always debate amongst the devotees. Whether we're talking vinyl junkies, comic book fanatics, Star Wars fans or audiophiles, our opinions get weightier as our interest grows and knowledge follows. There are a few topics in hi-fi that always spur debate. Accessories and tweaks are amongst the top of that list. Audio enthusiasts love to argue the merits of their case, and sometimes we shoot ourselves in the foot as the result. The moment you become a band; a click, you begin to exclude others and you sometimes lose focus of the basic building block that brought you into this game in the first place! For some it was the love of music (admittedly the reason for my own obsession with all things audio) and for others it was the science and the equipment. Whatever the cause for your entry it this little twisted world, we all share, at the very least, one immediate goal: Performance.
Analog
Expert Ultimate Record Cleaning Solution: $19.99
The Analog Expert Ultimate Record Cleaning Solution is the brainchild of Marc Silver, owner of Soundscape, right here in the Bay Area (Santa Rosa). Marc has been in this business for over thirty (Forty Two) years now, and knows more about turntables; how they work and how to fix/dial them in than most people in this game. He can also acquire just about any old model (and many exotic) stylus, numbers that few dealers even know still exist (keep in mind, if needed give him a shout).......Marc presented me with his new product. I was pleasantly surprised to be presented with the final product packaging, including spray bottle and micro-fiber cloth, all for $19.99. It's good to see knowledgeable people get into making things that bring their experiences to bear.
The Ultimate Cleaning Solutions comes ready to go. The cleaner was simple to use (of course) and what struck me first was the speed at which it disappeared after wiping it down. I wasn't left with small wet spots and water hanging off the end of the 12". Marc states this is an all-natural product: "It's actually a green product, if you want to go there" he said to me recently on the telephone when I was asking about the ingredients. The bottle does in fact state "non-toxic and pH neutral" on the bottle itself.
We've moved recently (well, two years ago to be honest) and there is still a great deal of my vinyl in the garage, so cleaning everything I want to play is a must lately. My VPI turntable is still in storage, but I have since borrowed a Technics to play my wax. Whatever you may think; this baby, with an Ortofon cartridge, is sounding just fine believe me. I didn't want to do this, save killing my stylus, but in order to test the solution I did some before and after tests. The results were just like putting the record through a decent cleaning machine, like the Nitty Gritty. The needle was able to find and stay in the groove nicely, the noise floor dropped like a mortar, and I felt like the concept was worth far more than twenty bucks! There are cleaning solutions out there that are three times the price, that I have owned, that simply do not work as well. They leave a residue of some kind, and that bugs me a lot. This product did its job wonderfully, with easy clean-up and no hassle. Now, if you were to use something like the Clear Audio machine, you'd be in much better shape, but I would think you should, being that machine costs over ! So give Soundscape a shout or an email: http://soundscapeav.com/ (and if you should deem the website in need of a cyber make-over, please let them know). Believe me this fluid is a steal, plain and simple.
