Record cleaning fluid

[Deleted User]

Hello,
I've come up with a pretty thorough record cleaning liquid for LPs. There's no alcohol and it gets rid of any dust, dirt and finger prints, I've seen. I'd be happy to send anyone a sample, if they would want to try it. You would need a good application brush, I recommend the one sold by The Disc Doctor or the application brushes sold by the Last Company. Also, you would need to either vacuum the record with a good record cleaning machine or rinse it with distilled water. If you're interest let me know at kswauger@polkaudio.com.
Ken

F1nut

Hmmmmm.....got a name for it yet? Maybe, "Ken's Juice"

madmax

I would take you up on it but last time I ordered cleaner I ordered too much and am trying to use it up before it goes bad. I've heard stories about your turntable and some "air" setup you have. Sure would like to see some pics...
madmax

steveinaz

How about the "Swauger Scum Swiper"...

You know, have wipes soaked in the stuff like baby wipes. I have some great marketing ideas, call me.

[Deleted User]

Hey Max,
How've you been? Fine I hope. Well, let me know if you run out of fluid, the offer's open. Ah, the turntable grande. It's kind of a poor man's Walker Proscenium. I was lucky enough to buy it from a Greek chef who was trying to move his family back to the old country. It's a Maplenoll Adriane Signature and probably weighs over 125 lbs. The platter is made of solid lead and weighs around 60 lbs and is very acoustically dead. The tone arm is a straight line tracking type that uses an air bearing system. The base of the table is made from 3" or 4" thick Corian with a lead sandwich layer. In the basement, directly below the table, is an air compressor with a 12 gallon air tank. There's a plastic hose that goes up through the floor and provides the lift for the platter and air for the arm. I've added Schraeder Bellows air regulator, air filter and oil filter to keep the air flow clean and even. The table sits on a component rack that can support 2,000 lbs. I built it from a Bosch do-it-yourself structure system made from aluminum frames. The shelving are made from carbon fiber sheets layered over very dense foam. I have the shelves supported at the corners of the frame, using Tip Toes cones. The top shelf I bonded two steel rails underneath to add strength. It took over a year to assemble the framing and shelves and save up the money to pay for them. The original plan was to put the turntable on the top shelf only supported by the four cones. I also have a Crown CX824 on this shelf, the maker of the shelves said they could support 600 lbs without braking. But the shelf bowed about a 1/2" and since my pre-amp was underneath it I was worried about coming home from work and finding a 100 lb turntable sitting on top of my pre-amp. So, I used two steel 1" square pieces on the top of the frame, put a laminated steel plate from Verion turntable suspension that I've had for years then put the turntable on top of it.
I have floor jacks in the basement, one is directly underneath one of the legs of the rack. The other supports the record cabinet that's on the same wall. The floor was starting to sag a little bit. I use a turntable power supply on the Maplenoll it was running a little slow, so this lets me increase the rotation speed. Fortunately I have an Ortofon turntable test "computer". This uses a special LP to measure speed, frequency response channel separation. Ortofon used them to check each cartridge they make, it was also sold to stores to do turntable clinics.
It took me a long time to get the table working properly, it is definately been a labor of love. I ruined three phono cartridges before I learned how to deal with it. But I was listening to it last night and it sounded pretty amazing.
My wife has the digital camera, I'll ask her to take a few shots.
Take care, Ken

madmax

That sounds awesome! OK, now you must post some pics. Not doing so is NOT an option!
madmax

[Deleted User]

Hello,
Here's a photo of the turntable with the pre-amp underneath.

[Deleted User]

Hello,
Here's one of the Crown deck:

F1nut

Looks great Ken!!!

TroyD

VERY cool......

BDT

[Deleted User]

Here's a side shot of the table:

madmax

That is really cool! I see there is some electronic voodoo going on below the preamp too. I'd really like to see a downward shot of the turntable if you get a chance.
madmax

dorokusai

Very nice piece of gear Ken. I vote for "Pimp Juice".

Jed Leland

Hello,

Here is another photo of the turn table.

Jed Leland

One more.

Jed Leland

Here's the classical records.

Jed Leland

Here's the jazz records.

Jed Leland

Here's the rock records.

Jed Leland

Here's the misc. with our dog, Lucy. (aka "goose", "goober", "miss goobs")

Jed Leland

Components on rack

Jed Leland

Here's the system looking from the listening position.

F1nut

Someone has taken over Ken's house.......Jed, get outta there now!

madmax

Lemme tell ya lil story bouta man named Jed, audio engineer, barely kept the family fed, then one day he was shootin at some food and up from the ground came some bublin crude. Vinyl that is. Black gold... Texas tea...

Great system! Talk about a vinyl lover!

madmax

Toxis

Ken, you're my new hero. Wow... f***ing wow!

Jed Leland

Here is a photo from the listening positon. I believe it's important to have the equipment "dissapear" in order to be able to concentrate on what you're hearing. The shaggy thing hanging on the wall is kind of a wall tapistry to provide the necessary rear wall sound absorbing necessary for di-polar speakers. And its pretty visually abstract to help your mind wander into the music. The musicans seem to appear between the speakers, I even try and imagine what the recording studio or livbe venue must have looked like during the recording (a nice glass of wine or Irish whiskey helps, doesn't it?). The objects, in the corner, are home made (my wife covered them with hand made paper, very nice looking) "tube traps" to control bass detail and clarity. The lights are from Ikea (so is the wall hanging) placed behind the speakers, here again to focus your attention behind the speakers working to create an imaginary stage in your mind.

Jed Leland

Here's a photo of the Janis W1 sub-woofer. A good friend, of mine, is a classical instrument maker. He's made double harps that are highly praised around the world. He was super kind and gave the old Janis a French polish finish, using hand application that takes amazing skill. It really helps bring out the Brazilian rosewood grain.

Emlyn

Thanks for the pictures Ken/Jed. The listening room looks like a really relaxing place. Do you have the original Martin Logan CLS speakers, or do they have upgrades that came along later? I've been impressed with current Martin Logan products, but from everything I read the new speakers don't compete well overall with the previous wide panel versions.

I wouldn't have known the subwoofer was one unless you pointed it out. You're friend is indeed very talented.

Jed Leland

Hello,
You're welcome. I've been having fun with my wife's digital camera, she's been helping me post the images. The area is very comfortable, I like to listen to music while I read. I've become interested in learning to play chess, so I'm reading books on chess while using a magnetic chess board to follow the lessons. I find Russian music helps concentration (just kidding).
The M-L are an early version full range, the CSL II, I've added the auto on/off circuit to prevent attracting dust, and replaced the binding posts with ones from Cardas. Plus I keep big plastic bags over them to eliminate dust. What can happen is that if dust accumulates on the diaphram, it can become conductive, during high humidity and reduce the electrostatic field.
Thanks for the comments on the Janis, I've had it for well over 20 years and never been dissapointed. I like it's low coloration and musical quality. It has very good bass definition. A while ago I tried "bi-tubing" the turntable, adding a second air supply for the platter. So, I bought a good quality air pump from a fresh water aquarium shop. The problem was that the air was being very slowly pulsed by the pump feeding the turntable platter. After a few days of hearing this sub-audible, very low level thumping, I realized it was the sound of the pulsed air hitting the underside of the 65 lb platter. I couldn't put my finger on it, but there was something pulsing. I don't know how many readers
listen to the early London/Decca recordings, but they are well known for the rumbling of the subway going under the recording venue, Kingsway Hall, I think. In any event, the Janis is able to play these extremely low frequencies.
I can take more photos, if anybody's interested? Anyone like old open reel tape decks? Chess? Cute dog shots? Have shutter, will click!,

madmax

I think the more shots the better. Why not try doing a system showcase. I'm sure many of us are interested in seeing so keep clicking. Start doubling or trippling the size though. Use up polks bandwidth like the rest of us.

Thanks for posting the pics. I've never seen some of that stuff before. Very classy setup!

madmax

dcarlson

Beautiful.

Nice collection you've got there. Jed.

TroyD

Keep 'em coming Ken.....all I can say is WOW...

BDT