All things vinyl — sound
Alcohol vs Alcohol-Free Vinyl Record Cleaners
What Vinyl Collectors Should Know
If you spend enough time around vinyl collectors, one topic will eventually surface.
Not cartridges.
Not turntables.
Cleaning fluids.
More specifically, whether alcohol should be used to clean vinyl records.
Some collectors swear by it. Others treat it like acid rain.
As with many things in audio, the truth sits somewhere in the middle.
Why Alcohol Appears in Record Cleaning Fluids
Alcohol is a very effective solvent.
It dissolves...
How to Clean a HiFi Stylus Properly
A Simple Guide to Protecting Your Cartridge and Your Records
A stylus is one of the smallest and most important components in a vinyl playback system.
It sits at the end of a thin cantilever, tracing the microscopic groove in the record and converting those movements into music.
The diamond tip itself is tiny. Under magnification it looks more like a grain of sand than a precision tool. And because it sits directly in the groove, it inevitably encounters whatever is sitting there.
Dust.
Residue.
Static-charged debris.
Ultrasonic Record Cleaners
Are They Worth It for Vinyl Records?
Ultrasonic record cleaners have become something of a fascination among vinyl collectors.
The idea is appealing. A machine filled with water emits high-frequency sound waves that create microscopic bubbles. When those bubbles collapse, they release tiny bursts of energy that dislodge particles from the record groove.
In theory, it’s the perfect cleaning method.
No scrubbing.
No wiping.
Just physics doing the work.
But like most things in audio, the reality is slightly more nuanced.
How...
The Science of Sound
To better understand the relationship between the humble record groove and the stylus, it’s useful to go back to the basics of how sound works.
How the human ear perceives sound
Sound is a form of energy that travels through the air in the form of waves. When sound waves reach the human ear, they cause the eardrum to vibrate, which in turn sets off a chain of events that allows us to perceive sound.
The human ear is made up of three main parts: the outer ear, the middle ear, and the inner ear. The outer ear is the...