Audiophilepure

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“Running through the same cleaning process with second-hand albums also results in improved clarity and does a remarkable job of cleaning up some of my recent crate-digging purchases. Of course once cleaned, records should then be placed in a new polyethylene inner bag to avoid recontamination from any remaining dirt that is still in the old original sleeve.

The Clearaudio Smart Matrix Silent cleaning process is very easy to use and while not entirely silent, is certainly one of the quietest I have used. At £1,375 plus £125 for the optional dust cover, it’s more expensive than some record cleaning machines we’ve seen, but its build quality and ease of use make it a worthwhile investment for any serious vinyl collector. ”

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“I found that the transients became considerably sharper and the sound was a lot more vivid and direct but at the same time I felt that the natural flow and the organic quality were much diminished. Passive filtering would seem to be less intrusive and in some ways, it is. However, the main issue with series passive filters is that the filter component is in line with the power and thus the current flow can be impeded which usually results in diminished dynamic behavior or indeed a “filtered” effect. While this can be beneficial in situations where the sound is otherwise a little hard or edgy, systems that are already well-balanced can be thrown off, and in my case that always happened. Parallel passive filters, finally, have no components placed in series with the power and thus should theoretically not impede the current flow and not inhibit (the sense of) dynamics. However, I still found that the transients softened and the propulsion diminished and after having heard the same issues with every brand and model that I tried, at last, I lost interest in the subject.:”

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“Cleaning your records regularly with the Nitty Gritty is an absolute must to reach the full potential of your record playing enjoyment. Most of my records are well over 30 years old and the sound is very often better than a newer but dirty record. The only thing the Nitty Gritty system will not do is remove skips and scratches.

The Nitty Gritty company sells a wide assortment of record cleaners ranging in price from $529 to the Mini-Pro 2 at $1,579. The Mini-Pro automatically wets, rotates, scrubs, and vacuums both sides of the record simultaneously. They also sell a special solution for 78 RPM records that I have not tried. Their products are widely available in just about every high-end stereo shop along with a number of record stores. Just about every online high-end retailer also sells the Nitty Gritty line. Coincidentally I purchased my Nitty Gritty from the same place I purchased my Hana EH phono cartridge: Reference Audio Video in Gardena, CA.”

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“I’ve been a huge fan of power conditioners since a salesman plugged in an early MIT (I forget the model, but is was 5K in the early ‘90s) and it transformed the system I was auditioning in a Queen St, Toronto store—an area known for crap power. Night and day. Of course, some conditioners I’ve heard, especially those not considering an amplifier’s high current needs, choked the life out of the sound. Happily, the AudioQuest Niagara Series has a wonderful consistency. Source or amplification, your gear is going to be treated with kid gloves.

If you have the cash, getting the new 3000 or the superb 5000 would elevate your system even further, but if not, the 1200 at $995 is a bargain. It’ll give you a serious taste of how Powell’s wonderful designs improve a system. Very highly recommended.

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“It’s always hard to make a value judgement for you. However, in the context of a $10k – $30k system, a pair of Duets moves the scale more than far enough to feel like a great value. The Duet probably offers 75% of the improvement, with the cords adding the rest. Considering how much power these are capable of passing through, it’s not the worst idea to install a couple of premium power outlets to go with your Duets, just so you are getting everything they are capable of delivering.

The Clarus Duet power conditioner(s) are one of the best performing I’ve heard at any price, doing no harm to the musical content and revealing more music than your system is capable of without them in place. Deceptively simple, this is no easy feat. That they do this for $1,250 each, makes them highly worthy of one of our Exceptional Value Awards for 2020. I’m keeping this pair, so you’ll be seeing them as associated components going forward, permanently attached to our PrimaLuna EVO400 monoblocks.”

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The tradeoff for those with sensitive ears is that the Nitty Gritty can clean a record in about two minutes and only one minute of that involves noise. By contrast, the shortest duration for a quick Degritter drying cycle is just under two minutes and, in my case, because of the longer drying time I selected, it took three minutes. For fairly filthy discs, Degritter recommends the medium or heavy setting, which can last anywhere from seven to eleven minutes from start to finish, depending upon user preferences. It’s comforting to know that, during lengthier cleaning sessions, the Degritter automatically stops the ultrasonic generator to remove excess heat that might otherwise damage records or the unit itself during cleaning.

To keep all of the various processes functioning at peak performance, Degritter pushes out firmware updates periodically. After download to a laptop of any provenance and transfer to a FAT32 SD card, the update is completed in less than five seconds. The last firmware I downloaded altered the rotation schedule during the cleaning cycle to reduce wear and tear on the internal components, all without reducing the unit’s cleaning effectiveness. The sense I got from day-to-day use of the Degritter was that virtually no aspect of record cleaning and operation had been overlooked. It worked flawlessly.”