The German Atom Heart Mother was really good but it was sold as a near mint vinyl. There are some ultrasonic disc cleaners available, I've a lot of stereo vinyl and often wondered about getting one, but the good ones aren't cheap.
HDMI is just easier to connect up, plus I have currently connected one of my stereo reel-to-reels through the front pair of 5.1 inputs :yikes. The Surround Master does connect to directly to turntable doesn't it? Might have to get one then go into 'competition' with you on buying more SQ!
Ah that explains it, if its near mint then you would expect it to play as such!
My Brazilian was described as VG+.. which is pretty much spot on.. if it weren't for the faint crackle and pressed off centre side 2 I'd settle for it and transfer it but I will search for another copy instead of wasting time trying to make a silk purse out of it!
tbh I'm not sure my turntable or the records I've been buying warrant an exotic ultrasonic cleaner.. I've not even stretched to a 50 quid Okki Nokki or whatever its called, since I've managed to get some fairly respectable transfers out of even VG records..
the sealed ones and near as dammit ones obviously are preferable, of which I've lucked out and there have been quite a few, many times just a cursory dust over and they are good to go..
..but with these old Quads, as you know, you have to go with whats around or play an eternal waiting game (a game of fishing I don't have time for..!)
..a good old clean in the sink under lukewarm water with fairy liquid and a non scratch sponge pad and then rinse and dry with paper towels does absolute wonders (I should put up some clips of records before and after a through wash, its incredible!).. for particularly visibly dusty stuff I physically brush the dry dust out of the grooves first with an eensy teensy little brush that came with my beard trimmer (
) and then wash them with the fairy and warm water solution, so condition doesn't stop me if the price is right and/or its a particularly tough one to track down.
oh yes HDMI is easier, I appreciate you not wanting to add to the spagehtti of cables..!
Yes, the SM could theoretically connect direct to a line level turntable but not one designed to go into a phono stage/ needs a phono preamp.. fwiw I recorded all the 2-channel records in with their SQ encoding with the line level phono direct to the computer and for a few months I ran the 2-channel analogue out of the computer thru the 2-ch input of the Surround Master.. since I got the MOTU the other week many late nights have been spent turning the 2-ch SQ into 4-channel files of gorgeousness!
Please PM me when you can Duncan! Too much to say in this thread!
