SAE 5000 Click/Pop Reducer Question

[Theophilus Punoval]

I hope this is the right forum....

Does anyone have experience and opinions about the SAE 5000 click and pop reducer? Are there any inherent problems using this kind of a processor? Does it adversely affect the sound of an LP?

Most important: do they work or are they a waste of cash?

 

[anytune]

Definitely not junk. I've had one for over 30 years and currently have two in use. It does a good job of cleaning up light to moderate surface wear.
Pops and ticks in vinyl are extremely short-duration bursts occurring over a very limited audio spectrum. The SAE 5000 impulse reduction circuitry zeroes in on this narrow range and electronically "lifts" or neutralizes the unwanted sounds without stepping on the music.
Depending on how loud the pop is, the effect may sound more muffled or softened rather than outright removed. But it usually is an improvement.
Where you set the sensitivity tab is important. Set it too high and it will be garbled and squawky. But if you get the setting right, it cleans up surface noise quite well. The invert mode allows you to hear only the noise being removed. This is useful when setting the sensitivity level. There is also a defeat switch for when you're playing the tuner or some other pop-free source.
Understand that all signal processors have their limitations. If you've got a badly hacked record, the SAE 5000 won't help. But for the occasional pop or click, it can be quite effective.

 

[Ed in Tx]

I would agree with all that. Been using a 5000 since they first came out in the mid '70s. Picked up a 5000A a few years ago, and it seems to work a bit better on smaller ticks and pops with the sensitivity setting able to be set higher before messing up transients in the music. But either version works quite well and can be very effective. I cannot hear any degradation when switched in and out.

 

[Dr Tinear]

I picked up a 5000 several months ago, but haven't installed it in my system yet. After reading these opinions about it, I'll definitely have to try it out soon.