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Walker Audio Prelude LP Cleaning Solution

I did not want to post this as a full review as this is my initial first impression using the newly released Walker Audio Prelude LP Cleaning Solutions.

Prelude is a 3-step process consisting of enzymes, premixed cleaning solution and an ultra pure water rinse (made via a 7 stage filtration process). I comes nicely packaged with the following: a 64 ounce container of ultra pure water, a 16 ounce squeeze bottle of premixed cleaning solution, a second bottle of water in a 16 ounce squeeze bottle, an empty 4 ounce squeeze bottle, and a jar of enzyme powder, along with a small scoop and a slightly larger scoop.

Lloyd’s research indicates that enzymes in a solution only have a life cycle of 8-10 hours before they die off. By keeping the enzymes in a powder form, and only mixing enough to be used during a cleaning session ensures they stay active.

If you plan on cleaning 5-6 or so LP sides at a time (which is what I have been doing), use the small scoop in the enzyme powder. Place the powder in the empty 4-ounce bottle. Add some of the water from the 16-ounce container up to the “A” mark on the 4-ounce bottle and shake to mix. Apply to the pads of a cleaning brush and lightly scrub the LP as it spins on your RCM. Let it sit for 15-30 seconds and vacuum off.

Using a second brush, apply the premixed cleaning solution to the pad and apply to the LP as above. Let sit for a few seconds and vacuum off. Do not let either solution dry on the LP.

Using a third brush, use the ultra pure water as a final rinse and vacuum off.

I have had lots of experience with different LP cleaning products, including Disc Doctor, Audio Intelligent, and L’Art du Son. The AI solutions are similar to Prelude in that they also use the enzyme solution as a pre-treat prior to cleaning. The AI enzyme come premixed, unlike the Prelude. The enzyme powder formula of Prelude ensures that the enzymes stay viable until they are needed. I really like the AI solutions when I used them, and missed them when Paul sold the business.

That said, The Walker Audio Prelude is the best of the AI, kicked up several notches. Lloyd Walker has hit another one out of the ballpark. After cleaning several LPs that I thought I knew backward and forward, I can report the following: surfaces are dead silent, with no residue what so ever from any of the three steps. There is no static build up, and even well played LPs have that shiny right out of the sleeve look to them.

Focus, detail and transparency are the first three words that come to mind when describing what I am hearing. The inner detail on familiar LPs lets me hear for the first time things that have been there but never fleshed out of the grooves the way it is after using Prelude. At least, that's what MY ears are telling me. The music just leaps out from the utter blackness of the grooves. And, your records are REALLY clean. What else could you expect from one of the true masters of the analog arts? Who better to bring such a great product to the market for LP lovers than the man who builds what I consider to be the finest LP playback product in the world?

Give Lloyd a call and talk to him yourself about Walker Audio Prelude. I have no financial connection to Walker Audio other than the fact that I am a very happy customer and use many of their products in my system.

Kudos to Lloyd, Felicia, and Fred for creating another great Walker Audio product.
slipknot1
tafka_steve
115 posts
 
FWIW, vinyl molecules are NOT substrates which can be metabolized by proteases, amylases, or lipases. However, I cannot vouch for the safety of the sporicidin enzyme mixture on vinyl if it contains ingredients (enzyme cofactors, buffers, etc.) not described here. Also, I cannot predict the ease of removal of any residues from the sporicidin enzyme solutions from the vinyl surface. What residues? Well besides the enzymes, the products of the enzyme/substrate reactions are small polysaccharides and sugars, peptides and amino acids, and fatty acids--those will have to be removed as well. Otherwise, you'll just end up growing bacteria on your records. Fortunately, they should be readily extractable with a detergent/water rinse.

Also, to avoid confusion, the "mold" described in the sporicidin enzyme solution lit. is fungus and is not to be confused with the "mold" in the mold-release compounds of vinyl records ("mold" = metal template).
tvad
9,467 posts
 
Clearly, all these systems are two or three step processes which include an ispopropyl alcohol/water solution that follows the enzymatic cleanser to clean the residues mentioned by Tafka_steve.

Tafka_steve, thanks for explaining the difference between mold (metal template) release compounds of vinyl records and fungus. This was not clear to me. Are mold release compounds organic or synthetic? If they are synthetic, how would an enzymatic cleanser be effective on a synthetic compound? And, if the mold release compound is organic, and if Walker Audio Prelude enzymatic cleanser is effective on the mold release compound, would not another enzyme-based cleanser be equally effective?

Tafka_steve, are you vouching for the safety of the Walker Audio products? I see no disclosure of their ingredients or chemical properties as disclosed by the Sporicidin company. So, I suppose my question if you are vouching for the safety of Walker Audio Prelude is what is the source of the information on which you are basing your opinion, and how did you come by it?
piedpiper
753 posts
 
Re: the safety of Walker Prelude, I'm not a chemist but I do know Lloyd to be very down to earth and extremely picky about the finer points of everything he does, in this case, record care. I know it's going out on a limb but I actually do trust Lloyd to do his homework. Just one vote of confidence but I think you'll find plenty more who feel the same way based on their personal experience with him and his products.
tafka_steve
115 posts
 
Tvad, I do not know the exact composition of the mold release compounds, but suspect they are a mixture of long-chain hydrocarbon alkanes. These can be synthetic or natural, like crude oil is a natural product. But either can be degraded by bacteria (synthetic or natural? it doesn't matter because bacteria are incredible chemists!). I do not know the nature of Walker's enzyme solution; that is his intellectual property. However, if I were to try to do this (try to remove mold release compounds), I'd start experimenting with the oil-degrading enzymes extracted from thermophilic bacteria. These enzymes are probably more (thermally and kinetically) stable than those sourced from other bacteria, because they have to be functional in the hot springs where the bacteria live.

Again, I have no inside information on Walker's system and hope that I did not imply such, so I cannot vouch for the safety of it or the sporicidin enzyme solution, as I haven't tried either. I suggest caution in first use: IOW, try it on Herb Alpert's "Whipped Cream and Other Delights" before trying it on your 1s/1s RCA stereo pressing of Reiner's "Scheherezade".
tvad
9,467 posts
 
Thanks Tafka_steve. That's useful information for investigating alternative cleaning solutions. Audio Intelligent's enzymatic cleaner is specifically intended to clean mold (spores), proteins, fats and starches. This is discussed on the website. Walker Audio makes no specific claims of what the product will do other than clean one's records. Walker makes no mention of mold (spores) or mold (metal template) release compounds.
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