Solid-State Stylus Cleaner (TM)
"This
is one of the best phono tweaks I have seen in several years..", Reviewer Bill Gaw wrote in Enjoythemusic.com.
Extremephono is conceived as
my personal quest for music perfection. First and foremost, I develop
products that satisfy my first own musical quest: accurate, dynamic, air,
speed, transparency, frequency extension, better and cheaper.
Declared here is the end of
all liquid stylus cleaner. Yes, there is possibly a solid cleaner, but
read below and make up your mind.
Solid-State Stylus Cleaner is
made of a high-tech polymer that seems like soft jello/gel-like solid, yet is
is actually a very slow flowing, extremely high viscosity polymer, that is
non-toxic, and non-polluting (but please don't eat it). By having a much
higher sheer strength than the adhesive force between dirt and stylus, the
cleaner can pull the dirt away without detaching itself and will not stick to
the stylus. Pure chemistry and physics here.
To use Solid State Stylus
Cleaner, stop the platter, lay the cleaner directly on the platter, and use arm
cue to drop the stylus into the content, and lift up immediately. All the
dirt is left behind. Repeat as often as necessary, but do not leave the
stylus in the content (useless, and may trap the whole cantilever inside the
liquid). Think about it like Quick Sand, when you're in it, better get
out immediately.
Features:
100% safe to the expensive cartridge:
Use only VTF to clean stylus, not hand or finger. There is no stress to the suspension and cantilever.
No liquid, no solvent, no evaporation. Why is liquid damaging ? (1) Liquid weakens the adhesive between stylus and cantilever. (2) High-end cartridge with hollow cantilever will actually draw the liquid into the inside of the cartridge from capillary action. (3) The evaporation eventually deposits a layer of grime on suspension elasto-meter and coil, eventually degrading the performance and accelerate the wear.
None-stop music. May not be critical for
home listening, but for the active DJ during session, the cleaning action via
VTF is so gentle, that the preamp can remain on. Just 1 second to clean
the stylus and back to music.
No "dead-corner". When using brush, the
"dead-corner", i.e., the corner gaps between cantilever and stylus
can never be reached using a back-to-front stroke.
Super easy . When there is enough dirt
trapped by the content, just need a toothpick to stir the content; bring up the
clean portion from below. Let the content settle in about less than a
day. Then it performs like new again.
Long Lasting. No evaporation and very stable,
as long as no solvent like alcohol ever get into the content. Rated life
is 5 years.
No Breakage, no spill. But of course the most common
problem with liquid cleaner is that every once in a while, you'll spill the
whole bottle, or break the bottle. $40 gone!
Sound : There should be no sonic
improvement in a stylus cleaner, but I did hear better detail and more texture,
overall just 'cleaner' sounding. My reference include all currently
available liquid cleaner with a brush, with prices ranging from $19.95 to
$49.95. But I am not surprised, because the Solid State Stylus Cleaner is
engineered to clean better.
Users' comments :
"I must say that the mat
and stylus cleaner I've recently bought from you have amazed me. The last few
days, I've been replaying some of my favorite LP's while making use of your
cleaner on my Grado Sonata. I immediately noticed a more laid-back sound
with much clearer highs and more dynamics in the mid-range. I wasn't sure I
liked it (because it was so different), but kept going. With female vocals, a
hard edge I'd experienced before was now gone. The depth and width of the
soundstage were greatly increased. The sense of movement across the stage in
opera was much enhanced. Finally, I realized that this must be what was
actually recorded, and I'd never heard it before. I'm sure that part of
it is due to the removal of crud I'd never been able to remove using
conventional stylus cleaners. The stylus must be riding lower in the groove
retrieving more detail."
"After it arrived and I
toiled with the fact whether or not to subject my beloved Allaerts to this
clear quicksand type substance. Bit the bullet and inspected the stylus
first noting some dark areas on the styli--ran my Cardas LP's Ultrasonic
tracks--still dark area on styli-- dunked as instructed in the goo a couple of
time and bugger me the diamond came clear as a bell--no residue on
cantilever/etc. The listening tests confirmed a definite improvement, if
slight in the presentation--and no worries with your precious carts. I feel it
deserves a try-- I'm keeping mine."
"I have access to the
Olympus 10x4x Microscope that Linn and their Dealers use worldwide and
assembling the following array of dirty /soiled gunked up carts, I proceeded to
test the "cleanability" of the goo, inspecting each cart carefully at
Micro maximum focal length before and after.
A: Troika--before 2-10--needle thick with coal like shale on needle-after goo
dunk--shiny clear-- 8-10.
B: Supex silver body--before 0-10-- needle hidden under slag heap of tar/iron
filings/volcanic ash?-- after goo dunk--6-10- needle visible still slightly
brownish color looks acceptable.
C: Asak--before 3-10--needle dark browny black with build up around base of
styli-tip rounded, looked badly worn--after goo dunk--semi clear diamond
(slightly warmish tint--age?) and remarkably there is the clean tip of the
needle!--7-10.
Needless these are not real world examples--but!--are 10-20 year old units with
all those years of buildup--sorta like those "ground in grease washing
powder ads!" so even more impressive in my mind--no?"
"I use Casey's goo
several times a day. I've inspected my Grado's with a 30 power lighted
microscope and can confirm that the goo removes stuff that the usual stylus
cleaning methods leave behind."
"Last night, I played an
LP which evidently had some glob on it that wasn't removed by Disc Doctor and
VPI 16.5 cleaning. Bad sound. Since the Dyna is susceptible to wicking any
liquid cleaners up into the engine, and because I hadn't cleaned it since
installation, I broke out the Extreme goo and proceeded to carefully clean the
stylus about 20 times. The difference in sound was astounding, and still is.
Surface noise is reduced by 90%, the sound stage is bigger than ever and detail
retrieval is vastly enhanced. After all the hours I spent properly aligning
this cart/arm combo, I think I've finally gotten close to what they can
deliver."
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ClearAudio Insider
Reference Wood (this is a $12,000 cartridge) cleaned by Extremephono
cleaner....(by an actual user/owner) "..With
the Cardas sweep record I degaussed the cartridge and the system at the same
time, while with the ultrasonic vibration produced in the stylus, I was able
to break any hard debris accumulated around like your dentist is doing with
your teeth once in a while. After that, the work of the gel was easy, to
pick-up and remove this detached debris... Before doing all this action, I
had put on my platter The Royal Ballet (double LP), which I regard as one of
the best recordings ever made on earth, and played it for 5 minutes (I prefer
side 3 track one; 'the Nutcracker Suite'). After the cleaning action I played
it again and I must report that differences were more that distinguishable.
The illusion I had before of being there became a 'reality'. I could hear the
breathing, the moving, even the joy on the face of the musicians. Depth of
the orchestra was more clear, size of the instruments more real, echo of the
Concert Hall more evident. That impression remained with other records I put
afterwards..." |
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"What
is left behind after "dipping your diamond" is a small dimple on the
surface of the gel and presumably a layer of dirt from the stylus. After an
hour or two the dimple is gone. Since I have a nearly new (and presumably
clean) stylus I had a hard time ascertaining if it really worked. I mean, the
gel isn't particularly sticky nor did I have a significant amount of crud that
could be left behind. I don't have a microscope to review the stylus before and
after. What convinced me though was after about 6 uses I held it up to the
light so I could see through the substance. Low and behold, a small thin patch
of crud could be seen dispersed in the gel at each point the stylus had come
into contact with it in the past.
I'm
sold!"
"I did
have time to test Solid State Stylus Cleaner (SSSC) - fantastic. I happened to
visit an audio buddy with a very recently defunct Shelter 901 and so I promptly
re-installed his old Empire MC 1000 with Fritz Gyger II stylus that had some 600
hours on it. Three times for 5 seconds application of SSSC restored proper
sound from closed down, mushy boring listening experience. As they say,
hearing is believing.
Back at home
(at some 3.00 AM...) I tried to see how it looks cleaning with SSSC under 900x
stereo microscope. It works, and it worked fine with an assortment of (ab)used
cartridges. I used to work at Benz Micro in Switzerland and know quite some
tricks I learned there and after on my own regarding stylus cleaning, and can
confirm SSSC does the best possible job while posing minimal possible risk to
the stylus being cleaned. Only very old vinyl cloggings are beyond its
capabilities - if one starts cleaning new stylus with SSSC, it is probably safe
to say none will ever get accumulated."
Click here
(size=380K) to view actual cleaning action in Quicktime Movie. (Download Quicktime 5.0 from
Apple)
Purchase Now!
We will be closed from 7/31 to 8/26/2017. Orders placed online
during our closures will be shipped on 8/28/2017.
|
Description |
SKU # |
MSRP |
Online special |
|
|
The Speed -
Donut Carbon Graphite + None-Felt Mat Mk-3 |
SPDM1 |
$119 |
$119
|
|
|
The Speed -
Donut Carbon Graphite Upgrade w/o None-Felt |
SPDOU |
$99 |
$99
|
|
|
SCC1 |
$29 |
$29
|
||
|
The Speed -
Standard Carbon Graphite + None-Felt Mat Mk-3 |
SPSM1 |
$119 |
$119
|
|
|
The Speed - Standard Carbon Graphite
Upgrade w/o None-Fellt |
SPSOU |
$99 |
$99
|
|
|
Silk Wrapped Litz Cartridge
Lead (4 per set) |
LCL1 |
$29
|
$19 |
|
|
CMK1 |
$12 |
$12 |
||
|
HEX1 |
$3 |
$2 |
||
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Canada/International Air Shipping Surcharge
(*please
add this surcharge if outside USA and APO, otherwise, order will be shipped
by lowest cost option such as surface mail/parcel, and may take 4 to 6 weeks) |
INTX |
$0.99 |
$0.99 |
We will be closed from 7/31 to 8/26/2017.
Orders placed online during our closures will be shipped on 8/28/2017.
Money-back
guarantee. Regardless of any reason, within 30-day, return the item in
its original condition for a full-refund.
Europe Customers - Please
contact your local agent, direct order from USA will cost more due to VAT
charged for your items. Our European agents provide the lowest
delivered prices in Europe.
Toniolo Dimitri e-mail - MAD FOR MUSIC - http://www.madformusic.it SOLE
AGENT FOR ITALY
Rogier van Hoof,
Crusade-Audio. E-mail, http://www.crusade-audio.nl Distributor
for Netherlands and Belgium.