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Our MD Simon Burton shares his joy of listening to much-loved classics from his youth. And thanks to new cleaning equipment, the vinyls were better than ever.
“With the majority of people of a working age being pushed for time, many struggle to find time to connect with hobbies and life’s simple pleasures. I most certainly fall into this category but I there is such joy in sitting down and listening to music.
For one reason or another, I haven’t had access to my CD and record collection for a while but I have been reconnecting with my collection… A lot of my vinyl records were purchased during my teenage years and have always been treated with care and stored in an upright position.
I have spent the past few evenings cleaning the surface of the vinyl with our Clearaudio Smart Matrix Silent and cataloguing some of my collection on the Discogs website and smart phone app. Not only does Discogs make the process of adding your prized music collection simple, it also provides you with an estimated value based upon the condition and rarity.
Due to the careful handling and storage of my vinyl collection, the cleaning process brought the 30 or so records cleaned thus far back to their former glory. After playing a few after cleaning, I was once again reminded of the pleasure of stopping for an amount of time and enjoying the experience of listening to music, just as I did in my younger years.
When I first bought some of my early records in the 1980s, my hi-fi system consisted of a Dual 503-1 turntable (with an Ortofon OM10 MM cartridge), Yamaha A-320 amplifier and Acoustic Research AR18 loudspeakers. The system was budget priced and barely affordable for a teenager with a Saturday job. I recall experiencing distortion on some tracks which left me wondering at the time if this was a production related issue.
Fast forward to the present day… My curiosity got the better of me and I replayed two of the records which I had problems with on our demo Vertere MG-1 turntable. To my absolute delight the MG-1 turntable brought out the best in both pieces of vinyl and with no sign of the distortion I recall so vividly for some 40 years ago. The presentation of the music had greater athleticism and scale compared to my humble separates system from my teenage years.
And in case you were wondering, the two pieces of vinyl were Madonna – Like a Virgin album and Jean Adebambo – I’ve Made Up My Mind 12″ Single.
The cleaning process also did wonders for my 12″ single of William Bell – Headline News removing delicate surface noise when played on the Vertere MG-1.
As Trigger from Only Fools And Horses once said: “Look after your broom!”
Contact us at Home Media to find out how we can help you get the best from your vinyl and our vinyl cleaning service or give us a call on 01622 676703.
