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So I know there is a topic on cleaning regime but I have a question about an initial deep clean, or in fact how do you know a record is damaged?

Basically I managed to pick up a really cheap copy of Brian Eno's Apollo soundtrack. Vinyl looks perfect but plays like a dog. Ive only got the very basic cleaning set up of liquid cleaner and carbon brush.

I've read on the internet that PVA glue will fetch out all the dirt!!!!!

Any tips greatly appreciated as at the moment its really too noisy to listen to.

A spin clean, nitty gritty or VPI is the only way to really do a deeper cleaning. If the record looks clean but plays bad you could have a copy that was played incorrectly. The grooves could just be worn out.

[quote=21041]A spin clean, nitty gritty or VPI is the only way to really do a deeper cleaning. If the record looks clean but plays bad you could have a copy that was played incorrectly. The grooves could just be worn out. [/quote]Pardon my ignorance, but could you elaborate on "played incorrectly"?

Mateo, I presume he means a worn stylus which is the quickest way to knacker your records while actually playing them. Too much weight on the cartridge would not be good either. You can probably even do some damage if your tracking is way out of whack.

I was always told back in the day to change your stylus every 500 hours of play. That's pretty often if you listen to records a lot.

It could be a bunch of things. Some of these could cause permanent noise/damage to a record.

Playing a record that was really dirty, lots of dirt or dust.
Playing with a really worn needle.
Using a record player with a ceramic needle. An issue with old all in one record cabinets and the new Crosleys.
Using an improperly set up needle. Either setting the tracking force to high or low. A misaligned cartridge.

Is there any way to tell if its dirt or damage? Do they sound differently?

Great question philball1974 - I had the same thoughts while listening to my Alien OST yesterday - Record looked great but even so I ran it through my regime...carbon brush / VPI / Groove Glide and it still was crackly and poppy...annoyed the shit out of me as I was listening - I'm going to try another round to see if it helps and I'll start with the Deep Cleaning solution first

Let me ask this @jdubtxn & lazyben - Easiest and cheapest way to "set up a cartridge" - I've seen a $50 piece of paper you lay on the platter for "alignment"(not sure what that means...?) - When I installed the new replacement cartridge I just used the set up...lined up the screws...the way it was on the out of box set up

Thanks for the answers, guys. I was unaware of some of that, but it makes tons of sense. I may be overdue for a cartridge change. To that end, I'm interested in any answer to hncreature's query.

@hncreature I use an ortofon alignment protractor which cost £7 and has crosshairs to align the cartridge.

Sounds crazy at first, but… [video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gyvipBs6Vs[/video]

Your cartridge should basically last forever unless it gets bashed or something fails. That needn't stand in the way of upgrading it though.

The sylus you can (usually) replace while leaving the cartridge in place. This doesn't apply to all sorts of high end stuff (and probably some super cheap junk) though.

Lots of ways to align cartridges, the bits of paper are the cheapest short of the recreating the original setup by eye technique.

Cartridge Alignment tools

Paper alignment tools:

http://www.vinylengine.com/cartridge-al ... tors.shtml

If your cartridge is not aligned correctly your sylus will be somewhat tangential to the grooves and will not be retrieving the optimal part. This can result in distortion.

Cheap records on a cheap turntable...100% accuracy probably isn't going to make much difference even if you can adjust anything. But if you have an audiophile setup and source quality pressings on the whole it is worth the investment in getting everything somewhat near perfect. Perfection is obviously not something achievable given the limitations of the vinyl format.

You wear out a record every time you play it, the aim is for it to sound as good as possible while it's playing and to minimise this wear so it will sound just as good 50 plays from now.

Yeah thats what I saw. Seems really messy and open to errors, but might be worth it as the record was pretty cheap anyway.

I saw this and wondered if it did the same kind of job?

Amazon has Spin Cleans on sale for half price right now. About 10 left

Amazon US doesn't seem to have that deal going anymore, if they ever did in the first place. Bummer.

spin cleans full price on amazon.uk

It was Amazon US. They only sold a select amount around 9am est. I was able to score one for 45 w shipping

I've added to uk wish list incase they follow suit!