A shot in the arm

6and8

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Jan 20, 2014
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Just had my RB300 tweaked with Origin Live upgrade. Went the whole hog, structural upgrade, internal and external wiring. In football parlance it's like winning promotion from Championship to Premier League. Bass goes way deeper with a satisfying twang, more detail, more space between the instruments. The music seems to somehow come forward more. Test run last night with Kenny Burrell's Midnight Blue, I'd swear the band were in the room somewhere, hidden from view. Money well spent.

I have a question about stylus cleaning. My turntable engineer said he cleaned the stylus for me with isopropyl alcohol and a brush. On Origin Live's website they say never use the stuff. Any thoughts?
 

brownz

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6and8 said:
I have a question about stylus cleaning. My turntable engineer said he cleaned the stylus for me with isopropyl alcohol and a brush. On Origin Live's website they say never use the stuff. Any thoughts?

See thread below entitled "Turntable Hygiene" - in my humble opinion *never* go anywhere near a stylus with any kind of solvent. Stylus tips are glued on, cantilver suspension is made of rubber. Two things that immediately tend not to be keen on anything that doesn't smell like water. http://www.whathifi.com/forum/turntables-and-lps/turntable-hygiene
 
brownz said:
6and8 said:
I have a question about stylus cleaning. My turntable engineer said he cleaned the stylus for me with isopropyl alcohol and a brush. On Origin Live's website they say never use the stuff. Any thoughts?

See thread below entitled "Turntable Hygiene" - in my humble opinion *never* go anywhere near a stylus with any kind of solvent. Stylus tips are glued on, cantilver suspension is made of rubber. Two things that immediately tend not to be keen on anything that doesn't smell like water. http://www.whathifi.com/forum/turntables-and-lps/turntable-hygiene

Quite agree. Get a tub of the gel type cleaners recommended or use micro fibre brush designed for the job like Ortofons. The trick is keeping the albums clean, that way you don't have to clean the stylus very often.
 

MajorFubar

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I wouldn't worry about it I'm sure it will be fine. The dealer surely knows what he's doing. Cartridge manufacturers give these guidelines because these days you have to assume everyone is a pleb, because yes, improper use can damage the cartridge and some nutjob would successfully sue them when he ruins his £2000 cartridge by basically bathing it in cleaning fluid once every play. It's the same reasoning why most street corners have double yellow lines.
 

Jim_W

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MajorFubar said:
I wouldn't worry about it I'm sure it will be fine. The dealer surely knows what he's doing. Cartridge manufacturers give these guidelines because these days you have to assume everyone is a pleb, because yes, improper use can damage the cartridge and some nutjob would successfully sue them when he ruins his £2000 cartridge by basically bathing it in cleaning fluid once every play. It's the same reasoning why most street corners have double yellow lines.

+1. Common sense.
 
Jim_W said:
MajorFubar said:
I wouldn't worry about it I'm sure it will be fine. The dealer surely knows what he's doing. Cartridge manufacturers give these guidelines because these days you have to assume everyone is a pleb, because yes, improper use can damage the cartridge and some nutjob would successfully sue them when he ruins his £2000 cartridge by basically bathing it in cleaning fluid once every play. It's the same reasoning why most street corners have double yellow lines.

+1. Common sense.

I think that may be useful in some cases, did it myself a few times on second-hand cartridges, it should be very infrequently needed. To advise newbies to do it is possibly bad practice.

The fact is if you can physically avoid touching the stylus then more to the good and if your stylus gets so bad it needs a wet clean then you are doing something wrong further do the line. I reiterate the prime case of a cruddy stylus is a dirty record, if you keep albums clean then all the stylus is going to pick up is a light vinyl dust, and you don't need a wet clean to get rid of that.

In all my years of playing vinyl I have felt the need to set clean only three or four times. If there is any doubt about the effect of alcohol on rubber suspension parts then it is best avoided. The alcohol, if kept strictly to the stylus should have little effect on the glue.
 

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