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So what's the deal with CD demagnetizers?

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What's the deal with CD demagnetizers?

OK, I've got an innocent question. How do CD magnetizers work? I'm a little dissatisfied with reviewers' or anyone's ubiquitous comment, "I have no idea how it works but works it does." Whether it's the Radio Shack bulk tape eraser, the Walker Audio Talisman, or another demagnetizer, pretty sure Furutech sells them, too, what's the mechanism for how they work?

So, anyway, we all know that demagnetizing CD prior to play does improve the sound. If you haven't tried it trust me it works. But the closer you look at this phenomenon the more mysterious it becomes. The main question I have is even if there is some magnetic materials in the CD, you know, in the ink used for the CD label graphics or in the metal layer, surely the magnetic field arising there from must certainly be very very small, given that the ferrous impurities would by necessity be perhaps what less than 0.001 of the material? But for the sake of argument let's say there is SOME (extremely minor magnetism) in the material of the CD, the ink and/or the metal layer, why would that mag field hurt the sound and by the same token why would demagnetizing the CD improve the sound?

One assumes the magnetic field builds back up over time since the demagnetizers must be employed on the CD every so often. Even assuming some small magnetic field, any magnetic field, associated with the CD how would that affect the sound one way or the other? Anyone have any insights?

Geoff Kait

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