Spot the arm on the Linn pictured in the video.
The downside of a macro function in my phone cameraā¦
To clean or not to clean? If so, how, cotton swabs?
Use a can of compressed air and give it a few blasts.
Thanks Neil, will give that a try.
That looks rather strange. What is the (metal?) ring thingy jutting out from the cartridge body and overhanging the stylus, and does it have any practical purpose?
The bumper
No, one would attach the stylus cover to it.
Okay, thanks. I think that it looks odd, jutting out like that, but I suppose that it helps to stop foreign objects coming into contact with the stylus.
I was always advised not to use a can of compressed air, as could damage the stylus.
But to use one of these air bulbs.
DGā¦
I was in the middle of watching this and it disappeared - did it count as a commercial?
I removed it from here as itās from a commercial hifi company.
Iām sure you can find it quite easily though.
Im sure a short blast from several cm distance will not harm the stylus.
Overkill advice in my view that it could harm the stylus.
Ā£5.99 on Amazon, next day for Prime customers.
No brainer reallyā¦
Itās a snowplow
Donāt know about Rega but Lyra specifically warn against using compressed air to clean their cartridges.
I use a proprietary cleaning fluid called Stylast. It comes in a small bottle, which looks as if it might contain nail varnish. (Fortunately, thereās none of that in the house, as I donāt think that it would do the stylus much good.)
But, before I use the fluid, I give the stylus a āscrapeā, using a small piece of very fine pink glasspaper, which I think I got from Grahams HiFi yonks ago. (Iāve been using that same scrap of glasspaper for at least ten years now, so it would be good to remember where it actually came from, as it would be handy to have a replacement.)
You know what, Iāll compromise. Put the stylus in the protector and air blow the rest.
Why clean it? So long as the stylus is clean that is what will affect performance.
Bet you canāt really spot the dust without that macro thing on your camera.
Risk is that in an attempt to make it look clean, youāll bugger something up.
Ocd I guess. Not uncommon on this forum I suppose. Thinking about it: dust attracts dust, the stylus is close by and contaminates more easily. Something along those lines. But yes: looking closely (with reading glassesā¦) I canāt really notice anything
I had an eBay sourced LED light - something like this
Which I think is also available in Black.
It did come with a USB Plug, but I didnāt use that as I have a 50W 5V LPS for the RPi & Chromecast (for Roon Display) so took a USB feed from that.
However following a few reviews (Mr Fremer, John Darko, etc.) have replaced it with what is the best Turntable light, the Reliable Corporation Uberlight Flex, which looks like this (in Mr Fremerās room, not mine)
There is a review here Uberlight Flex LED Task Light Is Up to the Task! | Analog Planet from when Mr Fremer wrote reviews here.
Issue is, no European or UK Distributor, so you are stuck with either high shipping costs directly from the manufacturer, with Import and VAT to pay, or the US Amazon site, as I did and getting them to ship and import it.
Plus I am using this on the same LPS power supply, so no risk of a poor-quality SMPS contaminating the mains, eradiating high-frequency EMF etc.
But it is way better a light source than the previous eBay-sourced one, but well over double the cost plus shipping, import taxes etc.
I donāt have obsessive compulsive disorder, I just prefer to play records with a stylus that has been cleaned.