Static...Ex-static
Mon, Oct 3 2011, 2:45PM
Have you noticed that when you remove a record from the deck there are some little popping sounds? If you do, what you are hearing is the discharge arising from the static charge that built up as the groove walls slid under the stylus , friction arising from the relative movement of the surfaces. Have you wondered whether you could prevent the static build-up? Have you wondered whether the friction affects the tracking? Probably not! However if you wanted to do so and find out, you could do as follows;
Using Duct Tape (e.g.) attach on all four sides a rectangle (8"x6",say) of absorbent material (flannel, cloth, etc) to the inside top of the lid. This material should be dampened somehow. Obviously you should avoid any actual drops of water in/on the deck as a whole.
Play a favourite LP side, preferably with the lid down, and when you remove the disc, with luck, no little pops!! Ex-static.
Wed, Oct 19 2011, 5:08PM
#2
RE: Static...Ex-static
It's now been several years since my trusty Garrard 401/SME/Shure V15 combination has seen the light of day, so this reply is only really dredged up from the memory banks.
I remember very well indeed the struggle to eliminate all traces of static from LPs, including the above suggestions and variations upon it. One was placing a border of aluminium foil on the plinth cover, small bowls of water were often employed, as were anti-static brushes, guns and special sleeve inserts (Nagaoka?). All seemed to work to some degree or another, but notwithstanding the CD v LP debate in terms of sound quality, and nostalgic as those days are, I wouldn't want to go back to all that faffing around.
JKH
Wed, Oct 19 2011, 5:52PM
#3
RE: Static...Ex-static
Duct tape is the greatest invention since fire.
This thread takes me back to all that, as JKH puts it, faffing about in the days of turntables. Homemade paddles in anchovy tins of silicone to dampen the arm, springs under the plinth to isolate, various materials on the platter. Not to mention all the shenanigans involved in the basic arm/turntable setup: tracking protractors, mirrors, spirit levels, special test records. Like meddling with old cars, it was all fun if you had the time, endlessly frustrating if you didn't. Then there were the 1001 gizmos designed to keep your record clean, most of which made it worse. These days when I play vinyl it's a quick zap of the Zerostat pistol at the most, perhaps a record clamp, and off she goes. Sure, there were some beautiful-sounding discs many of which beat their modern transfers, but give me a cd or flac file any day.
Sadly, your post may be about 25 years too late, Earl Grey. But if you want to get into the creation of anechoic chambers by pinning egg cartons to the livingroom walls, I'll be right with you.
Being the first person to respond to my initial thread is pretty gloomy, but, hey ho! it isn't the first time so let's press on.
Putting the above topic another way. Adding the dampened material to the inside lid of your deck will increase the humidity to 75-80%. If you think this might have an detectable effect on the tracking of your stylus and can think of a reason why it could then you need to test it for yourself as suggested above. Of course you do not have to stick horrid Duct Tape directly to your pristine lid, you can instead have a subframe of a cardboard border (think picture framing) onto which the absorbent material is stuck and it is the cardboard (perhaps slightly oversize ) which will fit snugly with the aid of sellotape inside the lid.
Anybody prepared to have a go?
clive heath