Steam cleaning records 2

Hi Crem, what do you mean by this?
LPS are difficult to extract that SOTA sound but when you do , by effort or chance, now that's an experience.
Hopefully you're not talking Sota turntables....

Changes in the weather cause a need to tweek one's turntable & tonearm. Not apprecating those changes can result in slight smearing of mid-range,

Crem1- If you can detect mid-range smearing during changes in the weather you are an audio GOD. I can not even imagine that level of audible acuteness in a bat. You certainly have been blessed. I will read your future posts with a different view, one of reverence.
Keep up the good work,

The notion that changes in weather conditions might reguire some tweaking of one's playback system is not farfetched. The Magnepan Unitrac instruction book/setup guide mentions this possibility with regard to their tonearm.

It puzzles me that everyone here gets widely varying results from steaming. I have found it pretty effective in removing dirt, crud, or whatever you want to call it. It doesn't perform miracles and heal damaged vinyl. Also, I have never (thus far) had a problem with labels coming off because of steaming. The only thing I don't like about it is that it is time consuming.

In my view, tonearms such as the Schroder Reference ($7,500 & up) need to be re-tuned in response to weather changes. I am a fan of Frank's work & consider his tonearms works of Art. With a Schroder , weather changes scream-out to you. After you understand that one can use that as a reference point for many other Tonearms. In my view, the reason so many perfectly splended Tonearms appear on AG has to do with adjustment issues , mal-adjustments with phono cartridges having nothing to do with performace.For instance, Maplenoll Tonearms are air bearing as is the platter. Barometric changes change the alignment of the cartridge & height of the platter. Slight alignment problems "blurr" the delicate sound of a performace. Ms. Lumley was way ahead of her time, (see TAS 1983 & up). The information I outline is far-less available in a hard-rock LP but quite discernable in classical performaces. Z: If you want,God, find religion not 2 channel stereo . Set-up is everything. As for bats they use sonic vibes , our hearing is different. I do enjoy watching them against a Maryland Sky near dusk. I reside next to a Wildlife Sanctuary. Thank you for Honoring Bats.

One quick follow-up. I have noted seasonal adjustment issues with SME , Rega , All "S" arms & Grace. In my view all tonearms are subject to adjustment issues that affect tonality, midrange-smearing and mis-tracking.

The analogy would be air pressure to car tires. All car tires require perodic checks to determine correct air pressure. Subtal changes can not be seen with the eye. A air gauge is used to balance out the air reading for each tire. Wally Kits and other set-up adjustment tools are required to assure the tonearm is operating at the manufactures recommendations. The changes can range all over the spectrum , re-adjustment is required to return the tonearm to optimal operating conditions. Without such adjustments you are flying by the "seat-of-your pants" in analog.

When one steams a record , the recording silghtly swells someting measurable in a Lab setting. It is for that reason I always recommend a "rest" period prior to playback for the LP to re-sizes itself. The same is true when one plays a LP. The phono stylas heats the vinyl for a thousandths of a second ever-so-slightly distorting the grove that needs to re-size itself in about 1/2hr. It is for that reason a quick replay of a LP side may sound "smoother" when actually its slightly smearing/blurring delicate details the second time around. The variables in playback are such that even record cleaning using a RCM w/ cleaning fluids may sound "smooth" on a newly cleaned LP when what one is actually hearing is residue of the fluid deep in the grove acting as a filter to the needle as it glides over the grove.

It is for that reason some analog'ers perfer "wet playback" that smoothes the sound at the cost of detail.

When one over-lays all of these observations its not difficult to recognize why in analog playback is so challenging ... To view the "Turrents of OZ" not just the bricks on the road... Bats 'an all.