The HumminGuru machine in shown the video is the original version, which is still available for $380. Their new NOVA machine is currently $702. Their US prices fluctuate with the HKD exchange rate.
Happy new year Ken! Always enjoy your show. Lots of great suggestions in this video. I’d be curious to hear your suggestion for a turntable mat. I am using a rubber mat currently
should've included that. Depends on platter material. I think cork is good overall, not as deadening as rubber.. not as expensive as some crazy priced mats.
Very cool Ken. Can I recommend you try something I just found? I’ve used Isolate Sorbothane discs under my TT and other things before…….but I recently discovered they make a TT mat. So I also bought a Teac washi paper(very thin) to put on top of it. The Sorbothane is sticky so…. Anyway, I’m pretty sure it is doing a better job isolating any micro vibrations than the stock Technics mat. I think😊
I use a record cleaning machine (vacuum) A work turntable. A record mold remover (power cleaner) Record cleaning fluid ( L' Art du Son) Last Record Preservative.. Last stylus cleaning fluid. Various brushes, new record sleeves etc. I use a spare uni-pivot tonearm fitted with a fine brush about a half inch wide mounted on the opposite side of the turntable that tracks the record at the same distance as the cartridge. by adjusting the tracking weight and bias weight of the spare tonearm.
Hey Ken. Hope you had a nice Christmas and Happy New Year. Reality certainly is overrated, but the Manhattan skyline must make it a bit more bearable. Thanks for the suggestions for the inner and outer sleeves, footers, weights, brushes, etc. Appreciate it. Thanks, Ken.
hey, Ken. Thanks for this video, there is sound sound advice (pardon the pun) here. My system sits on top of a Kallax that is more of less full with albums. Do you think that the weight of the Kallax is enough, or would I benefit further by getting some isolation pads?
I've used Gruv Glide since the early '80s. Haven't felt the need for anything else and I'll take the Pepsi challenge with any of those other brushes. Carry on.
Thanks for putting together a list of gadgets. It's been helpful. The only thing is about the Anti-Static Cleaning Record Brush. I was of great interest in this product and was about to confirm the purchase on Amazon. Before hitting the buy button, had a check with the seller profile. It was actually a seller from China who has placed this product on both the US and UK Amazon sites. Eventually I did not proceed with buying due to my reservation about the claimed anti-static feature for an MIC product.
I did pick up an item using an affiliate link. I would encourage you to consider a patreon this year. Sooo many channels are just lazy, uninformative crap of the same reissued records and topics . Your interviews and insights really are a cut or two above the rest and obviously take a lot of time to do. If you branched out into prog or something jazz-rock adjacent I’m sure that be welcome too
Ken, heavy record weights are almost useless. added stress on the bearing isn't needed, a good record CLAMP that can be lightweight and provide slight flattening and intimate contact of the disc to the platter. now THAT is effective. Michell and Pangea are just two examples.
MDF is not a material to fear. Dissipates vibrations better than solid wood. The majority of speakers cabinets are made from the material. MDF isolation platforms work.
I understand the bulk of speakers are made out of MDF. But that is not a great thing. And the MDF used in most audio stands is just subpar. That’s why IKEA platforms and footers and pods and all these pucks are so popular. It doesn’t cost much to improve the soundof your component by putting it on some sort of isolation device.
@kenmicallefjazzvinylaudiop6455 Thanks, Ken. Have you found any devices or products to help mitigate static buildup and pops & clicks while playing your vinyl records, such as the old Discwasher Zero-Stat 7 anti-static gun, or a negative ion generator placed in close proximity to the turntable, or even some type of DIY hack? In dry/arrid climates, I have found that using an old-school small medical room air humidifier sometimes helps, but I obviously don't want to always create rainforest-like humidity conditions in my listening room, LOL. Cheers & Happy New Year!
@wylieroth3145 Thanks for the reply. Do you have any specific recommendations for a good anti-static platter mat? We will obviously need to re-adjust the VTA to account for the specific thickness of each mat. I used to do a bit of DJ'ing back in the day with the original Technics SL-1200 MK II turntables, and "platter mats" were originally developed and sold as a "Slip Mat" to facilitate DJ "scratching" during a mix set, and not really specifically intended as an isolation or anti-static mat. These turntables were already sufficiently isolated from vibration even in extremely loud club environments with huge subwoofers and hundreds of people jumping up and down, LOL. But the thick foam-lined DJ turntable & mixer anvil clamshell transport cases helped with isolation as well. Another thing I found back then is that a lot of the dance clubs used "fog machines", and the "fog juice" to create the fog is actually standard Mineral Oil, which is inert. But it would sometimes leave a thin oily film on your vinyl LPs...and equipment! :/ However, I noticed that there were usually less static clicks and pops in my sets when the fog machines were running. And the air was usually heavy and humid due to the sweat and breath of 100s of people dancing in a relatively small space. :/ Keeping your vinyl LPs clean was a real chore back then due to all this, and the fact that most clubs were very dingy and dusty environments. :/ Anyhow...
@@bbfoto7248 I don't know the specifics of my mat other than it was made in Sweden so, it must be good. That's a lame attempt at a joke. It's kind of a pressed (gray) felt with a proper "This side down." It's not like most of those floppy black felt things that I've seen. It's a little stiffer in that I can hold it in my hand and it won't bend at my fingers. I used to be a dj myself, but it was in a propper studio at KGLT (Bozeman, MT). I did a Jazz show for nearly 20yrs and we didn't have much use for fog machines so I couldn't address that issue. When Ken said, "Wood is good" he's absolutely right. Our studio tables were isolated from the rest of the counter on large and heavy wood pylon stands of their own. You could pound on the surrounding countertop and not affect the tables at all. My home system is wood all the way down to my finely-finished (by me) wood floors. I do use these "TableMates" footies for my three-legged Fluance RT85. I wouldn't jump up and down in front of the table, and, frankly, why would I, but I'm able to walk past it as normally as I walk anywhere in my house with nary a sound or thudding transferance through the table. So there's all that then. Carry on. ✌🖖
@wylieroth3145 Swedish is indeed good stuff! 😛 Thanks for taking the time to reply. I think I might have the same or at least a very similar gray felt platter mat on my old Pioneer PL-707 that I bought new in the early 1980s and is still in beautiful condition, and now fitted with a very low-mileage Denon DL-160 MC cartridge that I had tucked away for years. :) But I'm in search of something for my new MoFi MasterDeck that I combined with an AT-ART9Xi MC cartridge with the plan to rip the rest of my vinyl collection to digital for on-the-go listening in my aftermarket high end car audio system, or with the DAP & IEMs/headphones whilst traveling, so wanting the least amount of pops & clicks/static during the vinyl rips. ;) I'm primarily a longtime amateur jazz drummer and saxophonist, but I just picked up the new Rhino High Fidelity limited edition 180g vinyl LP pressing of "The Cars" self-titled album that was remastered & cut by Kevin Gray @ CoHEARent, and WOW, it's CRAZY GOOD on the new setup! On a side note, I've kept a decent wood shop since I was a teen doing cabinet- and furniture-making, so a lot of my house interior, furniture, and stereo racks are of various hardwoods as well. :) But I went with vertical grain laminated bamboo for the house flooring to minimize expansion & contraction issues due to temperature and/or humidity fluctuations with our hydronic in-floor radiant heating. Bamboo is classified as a Grass, not a Wood, so it's much more stable and less susceptible to expansion/contraction/splitting/cracking with large temperature or humidity fluctuations. And from a kitchen remodel a few years back, I had the granite countertop contractor make up a double-thick rectangular slab from remnants/offcuts of the granite countertop install to use as a turntable base which is set atop my walnut & stainless steel component rack with a sheet of 3/4" thick closed cell neoprene sponge foam between them, so very good isolation with heaps of mass for stability & damping me thinks. :) Cheers for the suggestions... Looking now, I see HEAPS of options for platter mats at every price point imaginable! 😮 Another "audiophile" rabbit hole to explore! Ha!
There was a video from about a year ago by Dave Dreyer where he said the frequency used by the Humminguru destroyed a record after he ran it through the machine numerous times. th-cam.com/video/-tjRsDi8rVk/w-d-xo.htmlsi=rO9BNruDsWnh4s1L Great video, by the way. Thank you!
Thank's for this video, Happy new-year to you.
Happy New Year Ken ! Thanks for ther pictures. I love New-York ! 🤗
Happy New Year, Ken!
I would add a bubble level, for getting the turntable dead nuts plumb.
absolutely.
Happy New Year, Ken! 🍺
The HumminGuru machine in shown the video is the original version, which is still available for $380. Their new NOVA machine is currently $702. Their US prices fluctuate with the HKD exchange rate.
Thanks for the correction. It's actually $500
Happy new year Ken! Always enjoy your show. Lots of great suggestions in this video. I’d be curious to hear your suggestion for a turntable mat. I am using a rubber mat currently
should've included that. Depends on platter material. I think cork is good overall, not as deadening as rubber.. not as expensive as some crazy priced mats.
@@kenmicallefjazzvinylaudiop6455Thanks! I’ll look into it.
Droppin' the needle, droppin' the knowledge. TY K
Happy new year Ken ! 🎉
Very cool Ken. Can I recommend you try something I just found? I’ve used Isolate Sorbothane discs under my TT and other things before…….but I recently discovered they make a TT mat. So I also bought a Teac washi paper(very thin) to put on top of it. The Sorbothane is sticky so…. Anyway, I’m pretty sure it is doing a better job isolating any micro vibrations than the stock Technics mat. I think😊
Thanks I know I’ve tried them at some point or another
Thanks for the recommendations, I need to pick up a brush and some bags. Are those opening shots from your apartment?
I use a record cleaning machine (vacuum)
A work turntable.
A record mold remover (power cleaner)
Record cleaning fluid ( L' Art du Son)
Last Record Preservative..
Last stylus cleaning fluid.
Various brushes, new record sleeves etc.
I use a spare uni-pivot tonearm fitted with a fine brush about a half inch wide mounted on the opposite side of the turntable that tracks the record at the same distance as the cartridge. by adjusting the tracking weight and bias weight of the spare tonearm.
Hey Ken. Hope you had a nice Christmas and Happy New Year. Reality certainly is overrated, but the Manhattan skyline must make it a bit more bearable. Thanks for the suggestions for the inner and outer sleeves, footers, weights, brushes, etc. Appreciate it. Thanks, Ken.
hey, Ken. Thanks for this video, there is sound sound advice (pardon the pun) here. My system sits on top of a Kallax that is more of less full with albums. Do you think that the weight of the Kallax is enough, or would I benefit further by getting some isolation pads?
I would think a full Kallax as an excellent isolation base.
I've used Gruv Glide since the early '80s. Haven't felt the need for anything else and I'll take the Pepsi challenge with any of those other brushes.
Carry on.
Thanks for putting together a list of gadgets. It's been helpful. The only thing is about the Anti-Static Cleaning Record Brush. I was of great interest in this product and was about to confirm the purchase on Amazon. Before hitting the buy button, had a check with the seller profile. It was actually a seller from China who has placed this product on both the US and UK Amazon sites. Eventually I did not proceed with buying due to my reservation about the claimed anti-static feature for an MIC product.
i don't use it for anti static purposes. It's a good all purpose record brush.
I did pick up an item using an affiliate link. I would encourage you to consider a patreon this year. Sooo many channels are just lazy, uninformative crap of the same reissued records and topics
. Your interviews and insights really are a cut or two above the rest and obviously take a lot of time to do. If you branched out into prog or something jazz-rock adjacent I’m sure that be welcome too
Wow. I really appreciate your comments. Thanks a lot. It is a lot of work and I appreciate you saying that.
Ken, heavy record weights are almost useless. added stress on the bearing isn't needed, a good record CLAMP that can be lightweight and provide slight flattening and intimate contact of the disc to the platter. now THAT is effective. Michell and Pangea are just two examples.
Your comment is spot on. Thanks.
MDF is not a material to fear. Dissipates vibrations better than solid wood. The majority of speakers cabinets are made from the material. MDF isolation platforms work.
I understand the bulk of speakers are made out of MDF. But that is not a great thing. And the MDF used in most audio stands is just subpar. That’s why IKEA platforms and footers and pods and all these pucks are so popular. It doesn’t cost much to improve the soundof your component by putting it on some sort of isolation device.
@kenmicallefjazzvinylaudiop6455
Thanks, Ken.
Have you found any devices or products to help mitigate static buildup and pops & clicks while playing your vinyl records, such as the old Discwasher Zero-Stat 7 anti-static gun, or a negative ion generator placed in close proximity to the turntable, or even some type of DIY hack?
In dry/arrid climates, I have found that using an old-school small medical room air humidifier sometimes helps, but I obviously don't want to always create rainforest-like humidity conditions in my listening room, LOL.
Cheers & Happy New Year!
I live in a very dry climate, but I’ve never had that problem. Sorry I can’t be of help.
That zero-stat gun shit is shit. Check your platter mat. That may be an easy fix.
@wylieroth3145
Thanks for the reply. Do you have any specific recommendations for a good anti-static platter mat?
We will obviously need to re-adjust the VTA to account for the specific thickness of each mat.
I used to do a bit of DJ'ing back in the day with the original Technics SL-1200 MK II turntables, and "platter mats" were originally developed and sold as a "Slip Mat" to facilitate DJ "scratching" during a mix set, and not really specifically intended as an isolation or anti-static mat.
These turntables were already sufficiently isolated from vibration even in extremely loud club environments with huge subwoofers and hundreds of people jumping up and down, LOL. But the thick foam-lined DJ turntable & mixer anvil clamshell transport cases helped with isolation as well.
Another thing I found back then is that a lot of the dance clubs used "fog machines", and the "fog juice" to create the fog is actually standard Mineral Oil, which is inert. But it would sometimes leave a thin oily film on your vinyl LPs...and equipment! :/
However, I noticed that there were usually less static clicks and pops in my sets when the fog machines were running. And the air was usually heavy and humid due to the sweat and breath of 100s of people dancing in a relatively small space. :/
Keeping your vinyl LPs clean was a real chore back then due to all this, and the fact that most clubs were very dingy and dusty environments. :/
Anyhow...
@@bbfoto7248 I don't know the specifics of my mat other than it was made in Sweden so, it must be good. That's a lame attempt at a joke. It's kind of a pressed (gray) felt with a proper "This side down." It's not like most of those floppy black felt things that I've seen. It's a little stiffer in that I can hold it in my hand and it won't bend at my fingers.
I used to be a dj myself, but it was in a propper studio at KGLT (Bozeman, MT). I did a Jazz show for nearly 20yrs and we didn't have much use for fog machines so I couldn't address that issue.
When Ken said, "Wood is good" he's absolutely right. Our studio tables were isolated from the rest of the counter on large and heavy wood pylon stands of their own. You could pound on the surrounding countertop and not affect the tables at all.
My home system is wood all the way down to my finely-finished (by me) wood floors. I do use these "TableMates" footies for my three-legged Fluance RT85. I wouldn't jump up and down in front of the table, and, frankly, why would I, but I'm able to walk past it as normally as I walk anywhere in my house with nary a sound or thudding transferance through the table.
So there's all that then.
Carry on. ✌🖖
@wylieroth3145
Swedish is indeed good stuff! 😛
Thanks for taking the time to reply. I think I might have the same or at least a very similar gray felt platter mat on my old Pioneer PL-707 that I bought new in the early 1980s and is still in beautiful condition, and now fitted with a very low-mileage Denon DL-160 MC cartridge that I had tucked away for years. :)
But I'm in search of something for my new MoFi MasterDeck that I combined with an AT-ART9Xi MC cartridge with the plan to rip the rest of my vinyl collection to digital for on-the-go listening in my aftermarket high end car audio system, or with the DAP & IEMs/headphones whilst traveling, so wanting the least amount of pops & clicks/static during the vinyl rips. ;)
I'm primarily a longtime amateur jazz drummer and saxophonist, but I just picked up the new Rhino High Fidelity limited edition 180g vinyl LP pressing of "The Cars" self-titled album that was remastered & cut by Kevin Gray @ CoHEARent, and WOW, it's CRAZY GOOD on the new setup!
On a side note, I've kept a decent wood shop since I was a teen doing cabinet- and furniture-making, so a lot of my house interior, furniture, and stereo racks are of various hardwoods as well. :)
But I went with vertical grain laminated bamboo for the house flooring to minimize expansion & contraction issues due to temperature and/or humidity fluctuations with our hydronic in-floor radiant heating.
Bamboo is classified as a Grass, not a Wood, so it's much more stable and less susceptible to expansion/contraction/splitting/cracking with large temperature or humidity fluctuations.
And from a kitchen remodel a few years back, I had the granite countertop contractor make up a double-thick rectangular slab from remnants/offcuts of the granite countertop install to use as a turntable base which is set atop my walnut & stainless steel component rack with a sheet of 3/4" thick closed cell neoprene sponge foam between them, so very good isolation with heaps of mass for stability & damping me thinks. :)
Cheers for the suggestions...
Looking now, I see HEAPS of options for platter mats at every price point imaginable! 😮 Another "audiophile" rabbit hole to explore! Ha!
Great idea for a video Ken. I'll definitely utilize these links for any "stuff" I need. Cheers! 👽✌️
Why does everyone have to get the current year in their titles at the start of every year?
because everyone has to get the current year in their titles at the start of every year
@@kenmicallefjazzvinylaudiop6455 😆
There was a video from about a year ago by Dave Dreyer where he said the frequency used by the Humminguru destroyed a record after he ran it through the machine numerous times.
th-cam.com/video/-tjRsDi8rVk/w-d-xo.htmlsi=rO9BNruDsWnh4s1L
Great video, by the way. Thank you!
Destroyed a record? That’s absurd.
Now that I see your "Smash CD shirt," I've lost all respect for you. The more choices we have for music listening, the better! ("All hail minidisc!")