Nitty Gritty 2.5 Fi RCM

[Johnny Vinyl]

Remember how disappointed I was with my 200g Classic of Tubular Bells? It was noisy as hell, although it subsided somewhat after a few scrubbings with the Spin-Clean. Well, I gave it 2 good washes with the NG and a rinse of distilled water only with my SpinClean and vacuum with the NG. I still detect the odd crackle, but it's 95% better.

 

[Bill Hart]

Remember how disappointed I was with my 200g Classic of Tubular Bells? It was noisy as hell, although it subsided somewhat after a few scrubbings with the Spin-Clean. Well, I gave it 2 good washes with the NG and a rinse of distilled water only with my SpinClean and vacuum with the NG. I still detect the odd crackle, but it's 95% better.

It may have been Myles that pointed out that some of those Classic 200g will play better once you've played them through and then re-cleaned them. I think we had that discussion re the Jazz Party reissue.
I sometimes clean, play, and re-clean. Call me obsessive.

 

[Johnny Vinyl]

It may have been Myles that pointed out that some of those Classic 200g will play better once you've played them through and then re-cleaned them. I think we had that discussion re the Jazz Party reissue.
I sometimes clean, play, and re-clean. Call me obsessive.

Myles did indeed point that out, and I'll be cleaning again to get rid of that last 5%.

 

[Johnny Vinyl]

LOLOLOLOL! I have to post this as it's just to comical to me.

I'm so used to filling the Spin-Clean reservoir with Distilled water that yesterday I poured it into the NG reservoir, instead of the Enzyme cleaner. Doh! Duh! Stupid, stupid, stupid! All the while I'm doing this I'm thinking that something isn't right, but I couldn't figure it out. LOL!

Feel free to perma-ban me for this moment of not having my head screwed on properly. LOL!

 

[Bill Hart]

Face it, record cleaning is just a PITA. The new ultrasonics make life easier, but I still pre-clean used records. I think I may have lucked out on an early copy of Love it to Death- now, probably have 7 or 8 copies. This one was dusty, in the original sleeve, and looked like it hadn't been touched in years, likely never 'cleaned' and it is an early pressing, albeit a green label, not the pink 'Straight' label. So, I spent a considerable amount of time on that one. The proof will be when I crank it up.
By contrast, I just got one of those 82 red mono Beatles records to check out, and that one, just popped it into the ultrasonic without a pre-clean.
I'm also going to try the AIVS No. 15 as a pre-clean for the nasty used records.
Like I said, PITA.

 

[Johnny Vinyl]

Face it, record cleaning is just a PITA. The new ultrasonics make life easier, but I still pre-clean used records. I think I may have lucked out on an early copy of Love it to Death- now, probably have 7 or 8 copies. This one was dusty, in the original sleeve, and looked like it hadn't been touched in years, likely never 'cleaned' and it is an early pressing, albeit a green label, not the pink 'Straight' label. So, I spent a considerable amount of time on that one. The proof will be when I crank it up.
By contrast, I just got one of those 82 red mono Beatles records to check out, and that one, just popped it into the ultrasonic without a pre-clean.
I'm also going to try the AIVS No. 15 as a pre-clean for the nasty used records.
Like I said, PITA.

Which MONO did you get? Would love to hear your impressions of it. I'm on Day 5 of a 9-day work stretch so I haven't had much time to clean and listen, but I'm looking forward to cleaning the Blue Box Lp's and giving them a whirl.

 

[Bill Hart]

Which MONO did you get? Would love to hear your impressions of it. I'm on Day 5 of a 9-day work stretch so I haven't had much time to clean and listen, but I'm looking forward to cleaning the Blue Box Lp's and giving them a whirl.

Rubber Soul, for a couple reasons- I really like the songs, and it is of the era when the original records were still being released in mono. I gather that there are mono white albums, sgt peppers, etc. but truthfully, i was never into sgt peppers and while I like some songs on the white album it isn't my favorite 'all around' Beatles record (though I do have a few copies). So, that was my rationale. If I really like what the red mono does, I may buy more, but I'm not really set up properly for mono playback (yet). I don't even have a 'mono' switch now (though I'm betting Vytas at Veloce can modify the line stage for me to do that from the remote).

 

[mep]

Rubber Soul, for a couple reasons- I really like the songs, and it is of the era when the original records were still being released in mono. I gather that there are mono white albums, sgt peppers, etc. but truthfully, i was never into sgt peppers and while I like some songs on the white album it isn't my favorite 'all around' Beatles record (though I do have a few copies). So, that was my rationale. If I really like what the red mono does, I may buy more, but I'm not really set up properly for mono playback (yet). I don't even have a 'mono' switch now (though I'm betting Vytas at Veloce can modify the line stage for me to do that from the remote).

Well? Come on man, I'm dying to know what you think.

 

[Bill Hart]

Well? Come on man, I'm dying to know what you think.

Will do, but the system isn't on, it's a few hour commitment to get everything warmed up, etc. So, I'll probably fire it up tomorrow at some point. Right now, I'm just gonna watch some news and relax.

 

[mep]

Will do, but the system isn't on, it's a few hour commitment to get everything warmed up, etc. So, I'll probably fire it up tomorrow at some point. Right now, I'm just gonna watch some news and relax.

Don't blame you Bill. I'm a big news junkie. I always want to know what is going on around the world.

 

[Bill Hart]

Well? Come on man, I'm dying to know what you think.

It's pretty cool, sounds bassier than the Parlophone stereo from the blue box, the vinyl is nice- do I think it is worth going out to buy all of these on top of the Blue Box? I don't think so, but I will listen at greater length. Perhaps on the albums where the Beatles really focused on the mono mixes it makes a worthwhile difference. Here's a view.

 

[mep]

It's pretty cool, sounds bassier than the Parlophone stereo from the blue box, the vinyl is nice- do I think it is worth going out to buy all of these on top of the Blue Box? I don't think so, but I will listen at greater length. Perhaps on the albums where the Beatles really focused on the mono mixes it makes a worthwhile difference. Here's a view.

Bill-Thanks for the update and this is the best picture I have seen of your table-it really looks great. I think in order to have the definitive answer, we need to be able to listen to these LPs with an arm that is carrying a mono cartridge into a preamp with a mono switch. I was hoping that Jazzdoc had some of these LPs as he is set up for mono. Or MikeL for that matter. I'm going to be tempted to buy at least one LP and try it out on my rig even though I will be in the same boat as you with regards to playing it with a stereo cartridge.

 

[Bill Hart]

Bill-Thanks for the update and this is the best picture I have seen of your table-it really looks great. I think in order to have the definitive answer, we need to be able to listen to these LPs with an arm that is carrying a mono cartridge into a preamp with a mono switch. I was hoping that Jazzdoc had some of these LPs as he is set up for mono. Or MikeL for that matter. I'm going to be tempted to buy at least one LP and try it out on my rig even though I will be in the same boat as you with regards to playing it with a stereo cartridge.

Agreed that I am not optimized for mono yet; many of the comments on the Hoffman site seem to confirm my impression- a little pumped up, very quiet vinyl, the early UK monos are warmer, but less detailed- finding the latter in good condition is probably tough. There's also a lot of discussion, on an album by album and track by track basis of which things sound better in mono. To me, what this proves is that the Blue Box is a winner for the non-compulsive listener.