How do I keep my dedicated room & gear cleaner?


I HAVE A DEDICATED LISTENING ROOM WITH MBL 101E MK2 RADIALSTRAHLERS, B.A.T. VK600SE MONOBLOCKS, B.A.T. VK51SE PREAMP, LINN SONDEK LP12 T.T., AND A MAGNUM DYNALAB MD102 FM TUNER. I LIVE OUT IN THE COUNTRY WHERE THERE IS LOTS OF AGRICULTURE, AND IT'S DUSTY ALL THE TIME. WHILE I ENJOY OPENING UP WINDOWS AND SCREEN DOORS WHEN THE WEATHER IS NICE TO LET IN FRESH AIR, MY GEAR GETS REALLY DUSTY-FAST. I DON'T WANT TO HAVE TO COVER EVERYTHING UP ALL THE TIME AS I LEAVE MY SYSTEM ON FOR LONG HOURS, BOTH DAY AND NIGHT.
DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY SUGGESTIONS ABOUT USING SOME AIR FILTRATION STUFF? DOES TOO MUCH DUST BUILD-UP CAUSE ANY LONG TERM PROBLEMS WITH AUDIO GEAR AND/OR SPEAKERS?
martinmobile
The 'petals' and bases of your Radialstralhers are better off without the dust being wiped off (scratching the finish?)
and the innards of most electronics are not a good place for a lot of dust. Otherwise it is not too much of a problem. I am suprised that you do not get some built in addition to the 'whole house' fan to purify the air. Some sort of HEPA filtering system must be available?
I have a pet Cockatiel, and they have a 'dust' that lubricates the feathers. The dust is very much like a dusting powder, and gets in everything. So I share your concern for dust.
I hope you find a good solution.
Good luck (and enjoy your system!!!)
A word of caution. A few years back I obtained a few of the Oreck air filtration machines which have ozone generators. Later on my audio dealer advised me that ozone wreaks havoc on rubber products. Sure enough all of my o-rings and belts on my VPI turntable started to crack in a relatively short period of time. He also said any phono cartridges with rubber suspensions could be affected as well. I've since turned off the ozone generator on the machines. I would look into filtration systems that don't have ozone (i checked online--some hepas do not have ozone) or have a turn-off provision.
Hello Elizabeth, about your post on 3/17 you made mention that the Pedals, and bases of my speakers are BETTER OFF without the dust being wiped off. If I understand what you are saying correctly, i should not wipe them off at all?
Leave them dusty otherwise run the risk of scratching them when i try and dust them? If that is what you're saying then what am I to do? Leave them the way they are? Oh man, they really start looking like crap if I dont do something. Which do you think would sustain scratches easier? The Lamellas(petals)which are made of some space age alloy. Titanium and Aluminum i believe? Or the high gloss piano black finish on the subwoofer portion of the cabinet? I have been using compressed air from a can to blow dust out of the little nooks & crannies. I also employ a nice soft feather duster to dust the "orbs", i use supersoft micro fiber cloths and the feather duster to GENTLY remove dust from the lower bass cabinet without scratching it. So far I've been lucky and done no damage. I can honestly say that I have racked my brain thinking of better ways to keep the dust off. If you have some better suggestions on how to do that, by all means share those with me. I agree with you, and i know it will just be a matter of time before something happens, and i accidently do damage to one of the surfaces. I did have special custom dust covers made for the MBL's which actually work very well....IF I want to leave them on most of the time. But that's not very realistic as I have my system on for many hours both day and night. Those covers do no good sitting on the floor next to the speakers when they're playing music. Bummer! Just short of constantly cleaning and dusting, or keeping them covered up, the only other option i see is keeping the air in the house cleaner. Hence the question I posed to all Audiogoners. You, Elizabeth have given me my best information so far. The Honeywell HEPA room filter. If you have any other helpful tips on proper/safe cleaning of RADIALSTRAHLERS, I'm all ears! I also appreciate the info from Hifigary regarding Orek air cleaners and the ozone generator inside it. Who knew? Definately will dig deeper into what that Orek does,(and does not do), before moving in any direction or making a purchase. Those late night Orek "infomercials" make it seem like one hell of a nifty, useful device. But is it worth $400? And does it emit OZONE? I gotta do some research into this. Other Ideas and suggestions are wanted, and welcome. Thanks for the input thus far.
I meant just that it is hard to constantly dust them off without creating some marks. Not that you should never clean them!
I hope you can solve the dust issues.
The round Honeywell I suggested does NOT have an 'Ozone' device. (i do not know for certain the other shapes do not)
Again, i am suprised you cannot get a 'whole house HEPA filtering' added to your air conditioning system.
Do not go for any electrostatic charged air purifier stuff though. that is very like an ozone thing, and a mess to clean, and does not do nearly as good a job as a HEPA filter. If you have a choice in whole house system additions, get a two stage filter, where the cheaper sub filter is first, then the expensive HEPA, saves money in the long run by a LOT.