.
A Twenty-Year-Old Record Cleaner
The Equipment: Kenwood KP-5022, a two-speed cleaning brush with radioactive polonium 210 static-neutralizing element. Dimensions: 2.75 by 5.25 inches. Price: $12.95; replacement polonium cartridge, $7.95. Warranty: 18 months from date of manufacture; expiration date stamped on active element. Manufacturer: Nuclear Products Co., P.O. Box 1178, El Monte, Calif. 91734, USA.
Comment: Over twenty years ago, for the February 1955 issue, we tested the then-available version of this product. On reviewing its reincarnation now, we find a couple of surprises, though our basically high opinion of the Static-master remains much as it was a generation ago.
The active element is the radioactive polonium, which ionizes the air around it and hence provides a path by which any static charge in nearby objects can be neutralized. A retractable brush (nominally 3 inches, though at its base the bristle area measures only 2.5 inches) is wide enough to cover the recorded radius of most records comfortably. It removes loose dust (loosened, of course, by the polonium) without the use of record-cleaning fluids-many of which we have found to do more harm than good. Of course it will not remove gummy deposits. (For that you would need a product like Discwasher or the Watts Preener.) For those who worry about bringing radioactive materials into their homes, Nuclear says the polonium has been permanently sealed in tiny ceramic "beads" so that it cannot be assimilated (although we can imagine it getting lodged internally) even if swallowed or breathed, and the active strip is protected by a guard grille too fine to admit even small adult fingers. Still, it pays to be careful, and the company urges that the brush be stored out of reach of children or incompetents. We would consider it to be no more of a household threat than, say, Clorox. When the time comes to replace the element, the entire assembly (including protective grille) is snapped out and returned prepaid to the company for correct disposal.
One surprise is that the Staticmaster has not been superseded in the intervening years. It is, as our review of 1955 said, "the most powerful and fastest-acting record static neutralizer we ve worked with." It can be used to remove dust before you play the record or to keep it dust-free during storage. (Of course it may be used on other materials-photographic films, for example-as well.) Where humidity is extremely low and friction between brush and d sc may further compound static-electricity problems, the brush can be retracted (an improvement over the original model) so that only the antistatic element is at work.
And--mirabile dictum--despite improvements and inflation, Staticmaster costs less ($4.90 less) today than it did a generation ago! If that's not a surprise, we don't know what is.
-------------
(High Fidelity, Apr. 1975)
Also see:
Kenwood's Automated Single-Play Turntable -- KP-5022 (review, High Fidelity mag, Apr. 1975)
Stanton Magnetics, Inc. Gyropoise turntable (ad, Apr. 1975)