jp11801

Do you have a RCM as well? If you have a RCM with a vacuum then just lay the lp on it and start the turntable then steam for about 15 seconds a side. I then vacuum off the water then repeat. You may want to experiment with record cleaning solutions as well to lossen up the grime.

not at all it is a call out on cost

many mapleshade items are overpriced but the racks are not bad as are the maple blocks. I have a timber nation flame maple block 18 by 24 that I use for my TT stand nice work but probably made of 9 pieces or wood the mapleshade are 3 large piece. Both are nice and make great stands. His cds are great sounding as well minimal miking some of the best I own and he offers an exchange if you think the music on them sucks. Put me down for the trash can sonata by Dusty.

ok I am throwing the gauntlet down on the steam cleaning. Mike and Al will be around Sunday in San Francisco and I will bring the steam cleaner and demo the before and after. At the minimum it is as good or better than expensive solutions, one bottle of cleaner costs as much as a 'perfection' steam cleaner available at walgreens $29.99. I would estimate that groove noise it cut in half on a record that I previously cleaned with cleaning solution and vinyl zyme on a vpi 16.5. The mapleshade steamer is the perfection model sold with an ungodly markup and some solution that I would not let enter a steam cleaner. DO NOT put anything other than water in a steam cleaner.

to prevent label damage place a cup over the label

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?eanlg&1192142257&openfrom&1&4#1 really good stuff once you get though the BS about distilled water... I have never heard vinyl this clean before, essentially this is the sound of no shit in the bottom of the groove. I have an old blue label london copy of beggars banquet from the Stones that always sounded good but the detail ad complete lack of grunge is remarkable. Again do not get a large steam cleaner get the small hand held they recommend in the thread. This is clearly a step up from vacuum machines and for those on a budget this can be accomplished without a record cleaning machine and will cost you a total of $40-50 bucks that is equal to or greater than the $400-$1500 machines out there.

Another HUGE discovery was the Steam Cleaning thread on record cleaning on Audiogon. Ok I bought too powerful a steam cleaner and it fucked up the first one but if I hold it 6 inches away WOW I have never heard an LP this clean. Do not buy a powerful model get a small handheld and read the thread on audiogon in the analog section.

at first I thought the price was high for something that a competent diyer could probably cobble together at home depot but I suck at that kind of thing so I am willing to pay the $120 for $30-40 worth of parts, a $10 cleaning solution and groove lubricant worth about $20.

I really like the suckitalo.com line of cables

he recommends pad dry with gerber baby towel, I'll probably do this and get a dish rack as well. There is a pretty big thread over a the hoffman site that discussed various manual cleaning methods and the air dry after a pat down seems effective providing all contaminates are off the record.

This looks promising for those that are into LPs. This is a new somewhat diyish style cleaner for lps that uses a system like a power washer but for lps. You spread on a cleaner that loosens up the dirt and muck on an lp then with a hose that attaches to your sink you spray off the cleaner. The advantage to this system is no residue from the cleaner gets stuck in the groove and should provide for a cleaner quieter lps. The drawback is it is messy and I would probably do this outside or in a garage. The other thing that immediately struck me was the use of tap water that has several contaminates that distilled does not. George Merrill is the maker and seller of this unit and he has a stellar rep in the industry and he states that most tap water is fine unless you have unusually hard water and then a charcoal filter should do the trick. Here is a link to the 6moons review http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/gem/dandy.html. I am going to pick one up this week in the hopes of cleaning some records that the VPI just will not get quiet. what say the peanut gallery

I am going to test the duet soon with needle drops, previously I used an alesis masterlink but now I think the duet with audacity and a declicker may be the ticket

I've been thinking about the anvil/calzone type case with removable foam for my amp. It's costly but a great and secure travel solution. I had a mini scare after hitting the brakes hard during a trip with my amp to a local stereo store.

Mike I'll bring the cart and my set gear to CanJam if you want and we can do a comparison on your table if you like, unfortunately after you hear it you might end spending some cash

sorry it is the R100 yatra ok Mike just buy one already

well he just bought a teres motor, bearing and platter from me and is building his own deck, not sure of what the plinth will be yet.

I was minutes too late on the dac digital is so last year anyway If this cart gets better I'll be in heaven as it is better than my shelter already

I wanted to go low output but he offered such a good deal on the .48 with the silver base that I could not refuse. Does the cart take a dump and then come back or just steadily improve? So far right out of the box it is great, bass is just a touch prominent and if it opens in the mids and highs it would be perfect!! For now I am enjoying another layer of the sonic window removed this is one killer brand of carts. I almost went bloom but without the SB weight I would have to have used some sort of weight with my origin live encounter arm. Next up is the wallet killing Galibier Serac turntable, thankfully it takes months to get and it's a 50% deposit.

WOW I got my fuji yatra with the silver base today and it smoked the shelter 7000 without a doubt. All I can say is it is even across the spectrum where I felt the shelter had a mid bass/bass bloat that colored the sound. The ZYX has great stage depth and width and is very even across the spectrum. I am wiped out from a few days travel so I just have the cart roughed in at this point but it sounds just great. Anyone thinking about these may want to contact SoraSound Mehran gave me a nice discount on the yatra/silver base combo and was excellent to deal with.

If you are really mechanically inclined build a plinth then order a motor and platter, there is a great thread about building your own table from Home Despot on audiogon right now. I am mechanically declines so it's a non-starter for me but if you are handy it could work. The thorens project sounds cool as well but the more I think about it mass over sprung suspension seems the way to go.

I really like the amprex white label pqs if you can find a pair, orange world logos are also good and alot less $$

While I am not a fan of the VPI scout, I found it dark sounding and lacking in detail I do recommend this http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?anlgtabl&1211656302 For the money you have dedicated IMHO this is about the best you will get. The Sota decks are probably better but for $850 you get a deck that can be tricked out as well. If you do a search there are several interesting ways it bypass the suspension with sorbothane pucks that are said to bring this table up a notch or two. You can also upgrade the motor if and when you feel the need to. Having owned an lp12, sota saffire and the vpi scout I thought the scout was the lesser of the three tables. If you go the scout route I would pair it with a lively cart to overcome some of the tables shortfalls in the detail department.

Nice read should be required reading for people who are interested in amps prior to asking questions, good for speaker and headphone people alike.

http://www.guitarcenter.com/JBL-LSR-4328P-Studio-Monitor-Pair-103552667-i1152811.gc MikeG fron Headfi has a pair of these and they sounded really good he has them set up in near field arrangement. They are not my be all speaker but performed well at their price point. If you have a GC near you pick up a pair and take them up on their 30 day return policy. You'll know in a few days if they are for you and since they are powered the amps included you'll just need stands. If you get monitor sized speakers do not discount the need for decent stands and the cost they add overall.

GMA makes absoletly great speakers, a local guy here has the $10k calypso's and they are amazing. They like many high end speakers respond to fine tuning the placement of them. When I first heard them he had them set up in about the worst way possible, straddling a 52" rear projection tv, and they sounded pretty awefull. Pulled out 18' past the tv they immediately opened up. I highly recommend giving these a listen their tonal accuracy and detail are outstanding. I would have to imagine the smaller ones would share many of the same attributes but who knows.