Dougdeacon, I directly asked Lloyd whether it was his Ultra-pure as I had already double rinsed with that. He said that it was based on Ultra-pure but had added ingredients. Whatever, they are, the add greatly to the final product. I also asked if Step Four should not be used before Step Three, he said no.
Rushton, I obviously had not seem your report. I guess I find the Step Four to have a bigger magnitude of improvement than you, although I am shocked that I would be saying this. I had expected little improvement, especially as it is a fourth stage. |
Rushton, do you use one of the new tourmaline hairdryers? I don't but I wonder if the other ingredients in Step Four are anti-static in purpose. |
Hifiharv, actually throughout save when the music is loud, but on side 1 in the second cut and the subway is obvious in the introduction of the Thad Mitchell Quartet. |
Guys, it is hardly true that a rinse with ultra-pure water leaves nothing behind. There is the friction of vinyl and the static electric charge on the record. I can remember when Lloyd recommended GrooveGlide and certainly the Talisman removing static charges have benefit. I have used both and find the benefits of Step Four exceeds them. I continue to use the Talisman, but do find it has less effect now.
While you guys fret about how this can be, I will keep doing a final rinse with Step Four on my previously Preclude treated records and enjoying them. If your ears tell you there is a benefit, shouldn't you conclude that your logic and theory must be wrong? |
Hdm, of course I am talking about getting more off the record, which Step Four certainly does. I have asked Lloyd and even directed him to the thread.
I agree about Grooveglide. I used it a couple of times and sought to clean it off.
As I said, I already twice rinsed my records with ultra pure water and was told by Lloyd that Step Four was not just more ultra-pure water. He was right! |
Lloyd responded to my email saying the following: "No, using ultra-pure water after the Step 4 would not be better." I would have liked more elaboration, but hey, it is his product. |
Jtimothya, thanks for the further clarification. Lloyd has always been into percentage improvement. It is big. I strongly suspect that it is not the alcohol. |
Stiltskin, I have only been doing a final Step Four rinse on previously Prelude cleaned records, so I cannot really answer your question until I do some more records. I do think, however, that you need to use the Step Four brush to really get good distribution on the record.
I do have the 45 Live at Carnegie Hall set, but I must admit it is among perhaps 50 LPs I have yet to open or clean. Incidentally I have both the original and the Classic releases of Returns. I have yet to treat the original. |
On a related subject, have you found the enzyme effectiveness deteriorates in less than ten hours? Have you ever done a large scoop? How long does it take you per record to do all four steps? As effective as Prelude is, I find myself avoiding cleaning more records. |
Rushton, I cannot replicate your speed. I did twelve records, both sides yesterday. It took me 20 minutes for each record. I would expect that the Loricraft string vacuum takes longer. At any rate I have nearly 2000 LPs to go!
The Step 4 looks different than the Step 3 ultra-pure water when you first sprinkle it on the record. There is a surrounding wetted area even though the water remain as drops on the surface. Once you spread it with the Walker applicators, however, they look the same. |
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Emailists, I couldn't help myself. Doesn't AI have four steps also? I have no idea whether one is superior and both seem to be thinking along the same lines. |
I have now rinsed 50 albums with Walker Audio Prelude Step Four and used all four steps on 12 records. I have not heard such silent record surfaces before. Although the sound stage and realism are much better also, a good part of this derives from my H-Cat amp. |
