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LP Playback in 15 Easy Steps

Posted by ecl876 (A) on March 22, 2017 at 11:35:59

It's an old cartoon but it certainly seems relevant:

1. Turn motor off
2. Remove clamp
3. Remove record
4. Place record in sleeve
5. Place sleeve in cover
6. Remove new sleeve from cover
7. Remove record from sleeve
8. Place record on spindle
9. Place clamp
10. Turn on motor
11. Use Audioquest or other dust brush
12. Wipe stylus with dry brush, Magic Eraser or stylus cleaner
13. Wipe stylus with Last stylus treatment
14. Set VTA
15. Cue tonearm and play record

Did I leave any steps out?

If I were new to vinyl and happened to come across this list, I wonder whether I'd be instantly discouraged. There does seem to be a lot of preparatory steps when you think about it. I do like some things about the ritual, but truly, sometimes I think it's a bit obsessive. Yes, it only takes a few seconds to do each step, but those seconds do add up and if you're really obsessive, I'm sure you can easily add several more steps. And this doesn't even include using peripheral clamps like VPI or cleaning the records.

In an attempt to limit the amount of work involved, I've eliminated several steps. First, I have my turntable next to me so if I choose the records beforehand, I don't have to get up to change the record or the side. It's clearly one of the best things I've done, as I hate getting up in the middle of a record, especially with 45s(nothing to do with laziness). Second, I have a Rega so I don't have to shut the motor to change the record. Also I don't use a clamp on the Rega which saves a few seconds. Also, no VTA on the Rega. So I'm down to about 12 steps. Not much better.

Of course, I haven't even touched on the more fastidious of us: those who worry about whether to use distilled or purified water, those who exhaust themselves with with multiple cleaning regimens that take longer than the listening session.

I can readily imagine someone who has devoted hundreds of consecutive hours cleaning his records suddenly having a heart attack and dropping dead before he can listen to them.

Well, "such is life" as one of our frequent posters often reminds us.

Edits: 03/22/17 03/22/17

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:

Herbie's Audio Lab

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