Accessories Review

MylesBAstor

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Apr 20, 2010
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mep

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Myles-I enjoyed the article and I'm going to buy the Oznow stylus cleaner. Anything that helps keep the stylus clean is a good thing. Because I clean every record before I play it (and I only clean the side I'm going to play for reasons you spell out in your mini-review of the "Stay Clean" record mat), I find myself using my carbon fiber record brush very little anymore. I also don't go through the multi-step cleaning process that some employ. I rarely buy used records anymore so basically I'm just trying to keep pristine records pristine. I love the Mobile Fidelity Super Wash cleaning fluid and highly recommend it. I own the VPI 16.5 RCM and I clean one side of an LP in less than a minute and have it on the table and ready to play.

As for the take up reel, I'm sure it is well made, but the looks bug me. I think regular take-up reels look really cool without resorting to having them look like car rims. I think I would find that distracting, specially if I had a stand-up deck as my main deck. My Otari MX-55 packs tape about as perfect as you can pack tape. It just looks perfect after the tape has been played-smooth as glass with no ridges sticking up across the surface of the tape.
 

MylesBAstor

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Apr 20, 2010
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Myles-I enjoyed the article and I'm going to buy the Oznow stylus cleaner. Anything that helps keep the stylus clean is a good thing. Because I clean every record before I play it (and I only clean the side I'm going to play for reasons you spell out in your mini-review of the "Stay Clean" record mat), I find myself using my carbon fiber record brush very little anymore. I also don't go through the multi-step cleaning process that some employ. I rarely buy used records anymore so basically I'm just trying to keep pristine records pristine. I love the Mobile Fidelity Super Wash cleaning fluid and highly recommend it. I own the VPI 16.5 RCM and I clean one side of an LP in less than a minute and have it on the table and ready to play.

As for the take up reel, I'm sure it is well made, but the looks bug me. I think regular take-up reels look really cool without resorting to having them look like car rims. I think I would find that distracting, specially if I had a stand-up deck as my main deck. My Otari MX-55 packs tape about as perfect as you can pack tape. It just looks perfect after the tape has been played-smooth as glass with no ridges sticking up across the surface of the tape.

While the Super Wash is quite good (Brian and Paul Weitzel developed it)--and was my personal fave--the newest MFSL enzyme cleaner is even better! 'Course it takes more time to use and a water rinse is recommended.

There are a few more cleaners from AI, AVS, Keith Monks, etc, that I'll be discussing in a new piece.

Funny thing is when I wrote that record cleaning piece for Sounds Like... magazine back in the '90s, never in my wildest imagination would I ever thought that the number of companies making RCF would have doubled fifteen years later!
 

mep

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Why does it take more time to use?
 

MylesBAstor

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Why does it take more time to use?

You have to let the enzyme cleaner sit on the LP for a couple of mins to allow it to do its thing. That includes periodically rebrushing the LP so the fluid doesn't dry out. Most find doing it twice helps too. So you're talking around 10 mins to clean a side of an LP. That's why the Super Wash is so great--you get 80% of the effect with a fraction of the time. So one cleans their precious LPs with the multi-step method and uses the SW for those more pedestrian LPs.
 

mep

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All I know is that my LPs look like new after a Super Wash and I think they sound great.
 

Bill Hart

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May 11, 2012
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The Oznow is good. I finally replaced an old one after years of use; the brand new one seems very sticky by comparison, although i never let the old one sit exposed, but capped it after each use.
Myles, if you are going to do a survey of current cleaning fluids, would you include the Walker 4 step? I really like it, and only recently added his 'finishing rinse' (sounds like a hair product). I bought a MoFi brush for that and really like it (though I still use Walker's pads for the first three steps). I don't leave Walker's enzyme on very long, usually a minute at most.
Can't comment on the reel, it does have a slight 'bling' quality associated with Escalades with heavy tint, but I'm cool with it. :)
On the brush, that's the same as an old Hunt EDA brush I still have. My problem with it (and I have had those kind of brushes for eons, along with sundry other dry brushes), is that though they do a good job of pushing the surface dust into a nice line, I can't get a clean 'lift' of the particles off the record. I know some people charge their brushes with a Zerostat but I haven't really played around with that much.
 

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