Arkay
Lunatic Member
I have a bunch of these things from different manufacturers, in slightly different styles. One kind (of which I have some spares still in the original packaging!) moves across on a track, just like a linear-tracking tonearm. I've put them on several of my older "collection" TTs, mostly just for the looks, though.
One thing I've always wondered about these things: doesn't dragging a brush across the record surface introduce some degree of noise/vibration? To some extent, isn't this analogous to drawing brushes across a drumhead (okay, the vinyl isn't stretched taut...). Is it really that tiny and damped that it isn't audible at all, and has no effect on the sound? Maybe it doesn't, but I've so often thought that it might, that I've never used one of these things on my best TTs, only on the ones I keep because they are vintage, unusual or "cool", like the Garrard Zero 100.
I did use them back in the seventies, but back then I didn't have an RCM and was often pulling clumps of dust off of the stylus if I didn't. Now the occasional bit of dust on a stylus is more the rare exception than the rule. Maybe I should re-think this (or do some testing with a stethoscope to see if there is any sound) and start using one even on the main TT?
One thing I've always wondered about these things: doesn't dragging a brush across the record surface introduce some degree of noise/vibration? To some extent, isn't this analogous to drawing brushes across a drumhead (okay, the vinyl isn't stretched taut...). Is it really that tiny and damped that it isn't audible at all, and has no effect on the sound? Maybe it doesn't, but I've so often thought that it might, that I've never used one of these things on my best TTs, only on the ones I keep because they are vintage, unusual or "cool", like the Garrard Zero 100.
I did use them back in the seventies, but back then I didn't have an RCM and was often pulling clumps of dust off of the stylus if I didn't. Now the occasional bit of dust on a stylus is more the rare exception than the rule. Maybe I should re-think this (or do some testing with a stethoscope to see if there is any sound) and start using one even on the main TT?