Record-playing Rituals?

To be perfectly honest, let me admit something I have never owned up to in public before: In my rig, I have never been able to consistently identify any fluctuation in the sound I could hang my hat on when adjusting VTA or anti-skating. There, I said it! (Not that I ever claimed otherwise.) I feel so much better now. It is true, however, that the last time I futzed around with these settings, I was in a different listening room, with my old amp and phono preamp, my TT resting on a different shelf arrangement, and hadn't yet installed my tonearm damper, so I suppose I should try and belly up to the bar once again. (However, you are inescapably, irrefutably, ascendantly triumphant Detlof, inasmuch as I *have* copped to hearing differences stemming from changes in VTF, loading, clamping, damping, etc., so I do verily protesteth too much ado about nada in my merely music-loving conceits. But I want and need to, every once in a while - otherwise,...??)

By Jove, me thought, thou didst protest too much, but now sweet truth is flowing from your lips as honeydew in spring. A pox on all, who forthwith doubt your words.

Hey, anonymity ought to be at least as good for truth-telling as it is for tale-spinning. :-)

I cannot get my latest 3 ebay purchased, solvent (probably alcohol) cleaned records clean on my VPI 16.5 with any solution after three tries. They play okay with lots of surface noise (no scratches) but the stylus picks up (I guess) softened or sticky dust/dirt by the end of a 10" side. I clean the stylus with ExtremePhono cleaner which works 100% of the time. I don't know of cleaners of previously solvent cleaned records (I have about 40 or 50 of 17,000 LPs, on 78s, those are gone as they melted when someone "cleaned" them).

It is quite possible that the vinyl itself is damaged from repeated plays on an improperly aligned phono system. It would not be beyond comprehension that such a system may have been tracking at too high of a force and literally "carved" its' way through the grooves. If that is the case, there is nothing that you can do correct the situation as the vinyl itself is damaged.

Other than that, it sounds as if you purchase lp's that may be in various conditions. You might want to try a trick that Michael Fremer recently investigated and recommends. That is, using a portable hand steamer to loosen the grit followed up by a thorough scrubbing and a rinse.

I also think that Buggtussel's "vinylzyme gold" record cleaner might be worth checking out for such situations. It is enzyme based and may work on some specific "grime" that other alcohol based cleaners can't remove. Sean
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