getting the best sound first

[gstringe]

Has there been any discussion regarding getting the best possible sound off of old recordings before attempting restoration?

Such as various liquid solutions on the records or something I have been thinking about for a few years and that is, picking up the groove movement optically instead of mechanically. A laser pick up seems a possibility but maybe the benefits aren't there.

george

[DougMac]

Re: getting the best sound first

There has been a turntable developed that reads the disk optically. It is manufactured by ELP Corporation (www.elpj.com) and costs $13,500. The version that can play 78's is $20,500. What a steal!

[Beautman]

Re: getting the best sound first

I haven't heard the optical turntable myself, but I read that it does very poorly "reading" dirty or damaged records which, if true, would be a big drawback for people doing restoration work. Neither does it seem to have made any in-roads in high-end circles (where the price would be high, but not higher than exotic analog set-ups), so it may be safe to assume that the present state of the technology is not superior.

There was periodic discussion about wet playing in the audio magazines during the pre-digital era. As I recall, the general conclusion was that the records sound better when wet, but that the dust and dirt in the grooves become a sludge that dries on your stylus and vastly shortens its life and reduces long term fidelity. There may be different views on this, however, because wet play systems were out there for a while, especially in Europe.

[JimP]

Re: getting the best sound first

You might try "Nitty Gritty" record care products. They have many models ranging from $269 to $839.

It works like a turntable depending upon how the fluid is applied, the record is electrically rotated with fibers much like the "Disc Washer", but the best part that the record surface is vacuumed pulling out all of the "crud".

I have one and it works great and it gives me a leg up on audio restoration. They have fluids for both 78's and LP's with adapters as an extra for 45's & 78's due to size.

4650 Arrow Highway, F4
Montclair CA 91763

(909) 625-5525

[gstringe]

Re: getting the best sound first

WOW only 20K!!! I bette order two before they are all gone.

Considering that you can buy all the CD player optical pickup assemblies for $50 to $150 that is a hefty price. I imagine that if dirty grooves were a problem that cleaning would help but maybe not solve it.

[Rick]

Re: getting the best sound first

We were using a Kieth Monks record cleaning machine, which works on the same principle. You wet the record and it plays it with a string that is attached to a vacuum head tonearm. The string rode in the groove and the vacuum sucked up the dirt. It worked pretty well till the pump broke. It did make a dramatic difference on the playback quality.

Rick C

[Craig Maier]

Re: getting the best sound first

You should find a lot of information in the DC Art users manual on this topic. As for laser / optical pickups, I believe that there is a flaw in that concept. It is very important to play a 78 at least one time between cleanings before a transfer to get all the crud out of the groove. A mechanical stylus is great at doing the job. An optical stylus is just going to read that crud as noise adding into the audio signal, decreasing the Signal to Noise ratio that you will be working with. At least that is what I theorize. Stick with a several hundred dollar turntable or a hand me down! No need for a car loan to spin a disc.