CD vs. SACD vs. DVD-Audio vs Vinyl vs...

Generally, audiophiles will not experience record wear problems when proper setups and good habits are in use. LPs can be played many times, but never the same cut within 24 hours. If you can hear the difference between 3, 8 and 15 times then poor setup and use habits are showing. I hear wear after played twice on Lacquers, which is very brittle surface and has virtually no recovery. Vinyl has excellent recovery and wear factors if properly used. Carl comments on proper cartridge/arm set up being more aurally perceptible are excellent advice. I differ on Carl's opinion on Armor All use. Forget the Armor All on the rubber. Armor All accelerates aging of all rubber compounds used on cartridges. This probably chasing a problem you should basically never experience given normal cartridge life spans in audiophile systems. Time would be better spent logging your favorite VTA on LPs and rechecking set ups. Gerrym5

Gerry, do you offer any imperical and credible evidence that Armor All accelorates the aging of the rubber compound in cantliver suspensions? And not just what somebody told you...

Yes and No. I followed the development of a competitive automotive product "331" that specifically competes against Armor All. It was formulated by a chemical engineer eliminating all of the dehydrating chemicals used in Armor All. The president of this company is a tennis buddy of mine and he showed me test comparisons on various rubber compounds from tires to, hoses and small flex parts. Several hundred samples made up the tests. Each test had at least three new rubber samples of untreated, Armor All treated, and 331 treated all taken through an aging process. Armor All treated samples exhibited most aging and dehydration results much worst than the untreated samples. Simply put, it shortens rubber life. 331 slightly extended life while still creating much of the beautifying effects that Armor All produces when first applied. However, since 331 didn't win the first impression appearance tests it remains a very poor seller. Since that really why most people buy Armor All. This proved to be a sad investment cycle for my tennis buddy. Being in the market first, and producing the most pronounced visual immediate improvement wins the game, not something that is really better for the rubber. Again, you may feel that you are getting improvement, but seeing what I have seen leads me to conclude NEVER put Armor All on rubber, not even my tires on my M5. Like I said, my opinion is that the natural flexibility and memory life span of that rubber used in cartridges will exceed the normal audiophile's interest in the cartridge. I have about 10-15 cartridges going all the way back to Shure, Supex, Decca, Grado, Denon, Spectral, Clearaudio, Cardas, Koetsu on forward. I haven't experienced the problem you're describing. Your opinion is yours. I chosen a different process to use based on seeing some information and my own intuition. I am happy for you that you are seeing good results. Just as a follow up though, I'll look through a microscope at the rubber condition on some of my stored old cartridges when I get around to that. Gerrym5

Amazing response there Gerrym. Who would have thought anyone would have such personal experience regarding a maintenance product like Armor All. I won't use it again. Funny, I used to have some hand painted leather cushions on a 50s' chair. Occasionally I would put Armor All on to shine it a bit. Over the years it did show signs of drying. I don't know if this was due to my youthful lack of furniture maintenance expertise or the Armor All, but now I have my suspicions. Carl, I will eventually check out a state of the art high end vinyl rig in order to be a better participant, but I will remain a digital user and be happy that there are those of you unwilling to settle for anything but the best sound available, keeping some magazine writers on their toes and not letting big companies get away with too much hype.

Another source of information for those of you interested, MUSE has web site started now- may want to check it out, there's a review of Muse product along with a interview with Muse Designer as well. www.MuseElectronics.com