Gizmos and gadgets that keep Chicago's "superstation" super may improve your audio system too!
by Richard Warren [Aside from his duties at WFMT, Richard Warren writes an audio column for Chicago magazine and is audio editor of the Chicago Sun-Times. ]
------- Keeping WFMT's signal clean demands constant record and equipment
maintenance, says author Richard Warren.
IF BAJA CALIFORNIA is the rigorous proving ground for cars and twenty fathoms beneath the sea the test of a wristwatch, then a radio station--running twenty four hours a day, 365 days a year--is the ultimate torture trial for audio accessories. Though a modern radio station is crammed with expensive heavy-duty gear, the little gizmos that keep its records clean and tape decks running up to par often are the same humble items you can purchase in blister packs at your lo cal audio store.
As a producer at WFMT in Chicago, part of my job is to make sure all the equipment performs properly. Announcers, engineers, and producers collaborate on choosing many of the station's accessories, but it's usually the producer who is handed the scrub brush and bucket of water and told to wash the records. We try just about every gadget that appears on the market, but in the end it's natural selection (or, more accurately, survival of the fittest) that deter mines which accessories find a permanent place at WFMT. A record or tape care product that's not popular with the staff often disappears mysteriously into the cracks between the turntables and the audio console and may never again see the light of day.
Those of you who missed HIGH FIDELITY'S profile of WFMT [October 1980] may not know that it is hardly an ordinary radio station. We strive for ultimate audio quality and can boast a signal-to-noise ratio of better than 84 dB at the transmitter. This means that a dirty record surface or faulty patch cord is all the more noticeable on the air. Further more, the station is staffed by audiophiles whose debates over what sounds and works best often mimic the arguments of medieval theologians. It is much easier to reach an agreement on which $10,000 tape machine to buy than whether or not to treat any of our 20,000 records with a preservative. Because of our emphasis on quality, we don't own a single tape cartridge machine and we rely on discs, open-reel tapes, and live performances for our programming.
Auditions for most accessories are held in my own listening room at home.
After undergoing some initial experimentation there, a new product usually makes its way to the station. On many occasions, however, products that work well at home don't suit the needs of a broadcasting operation. So some of my own home preferences don't really fill the bill at WFMT.
Record Care
The Keith Monks Record Cleaning Machine is the most popular accessory at WFMT. Although the deluxe dual-turn table monster (about $2,000) is certainly overkill for the home, many audio dealers have one in their stores and will clean your records for you for a small charge.
The Monks machine applies fluid to a rotating disc via a Cecil Watts Record Wash Brush (which works pretty well by itself for manual record cleaning). Then a "tonearm" with a tiny nozzle sucks the fluid out of the groove, eliminating the chance of residue buildup. For the cleaning fluid, we initially used Discwasher D 3 and subsequently D-4. These preparations were so effective that we could even dilute them a bit with distilled water.
Considering the quantities used (each day's records are washed the previous night) and the price, however, we were forced to seek a homemade alternative.
We now use a mixture of 25% ethyl alcohol and 75% de-ionized water.
Machine washing is not the end of record cleaning. There's considerable dust and static electricity in our control rooms. Besides placing the announcer on a 3M conductive floor mat and using the Shure V-15 Type IV phono pickup (its carbon stabilizer brush drains static charge and lifts out microscopic dust), during the static-ridden winter months we zap the records with the Zerostat gun.
Then the Cecil Watts Manual Parastat whisks transient dust from the grooves.
For quick on-the-spot cleaning, the Discwasher brush and D-4 fluid are routinely used. We still broadcast several programs featuring 78-rpm records, and the producers of these programs carry their own Discwashers with the company's special fluid for shellac discs.
Once they have been cleaned, they are inserted into new inner sleeves. We use inexpensive paper and plastic sleeves manufactured by Queens Company that are similar to those used by Musical Heritage Society.
The general policy at the station is to put no chemicals into the grooves. At home, though, I've had good results with Stanton Permostat. It is effective in eliminating static charges, which is most of the battle in keeping records clean. For discs that I play repeatedly over a short time, Audio-Technica's Lifesaver does just that. Its lubricating and antistatic ingredients give it double appeal.
Clean records should be played with a clean stylus. The brush supplied with your cartridge is adequate for everyday use, but periodically the stylus should receive a thorough scrubbing.
The Discwasher SC-2 system is simple and works well. Not much larger than a pack of chewing gum, its wooden housing conceals a slider with a magnifying mirror on one side for inspecting the stylus and a pad of short, hard bristles on the other. You moisten the pad with two or three drops of the supplied fluid and then draw it across the stylus from back to front.
The Signet SK-305 is a high-technology approach to the same objective.
About the size of a cigar, this battery-operated device has a tiny IC oscillator that causes a small bristle pad to vibrate vertically; a built-in light illuminates the pad. The unit is placed on the platter mat (which must be stationary) and the tonearm lowered so that the stylus contacts the vibrating pad. Make sure, however, that the gain on your preamp or receiver is set to the minimum, lest the device's vibrations be reproduced through your system.
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Your stylus should be cleaned periodically, and the Discwasher SC-2 system ($8.50) provides a safe scrubbing action.
The Discwasher brush and D-4 fluid ($16.50) clean records thoroughly and safely without leaving a residue.
An accessory gauge such as the Shure SFG-2 ($7.50) provides a quick double check on vertical tracking force.
The Zerostat pistol from Discwasher ($27.50) temporarily neutralizes the static charges that build up on records.
Housed in its own cassette shell, the TDK A tiny battery-powered IC oscillator HD-01 ($24.99) is a convenient tape-head brings automation to stylus cleaning in demagnetizer for cassette decks.
A tiny battery -powered IC oscillator brings automation to stylus cleaning in the Signet SK -305 ($29.95).
Audio-Technica's Lifesaver ($12.95) is an antistatic / lubricating preparation useful for records played repeatedly.
Stanton's Permostat ($19.95) provides permanent antistatic protection to records with a single treatment.
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--- Heavy-duty record cleaning at WFMT is handled by the Keith
Monks machine (top), but for quick, on-the-spot cleaning a Discwasher
brush (right) is used.
Setting up a turntable so that the pickup/tonearm combination will track the record with the lowest possible distortion is critical. In terms of getting the geometry correct, I've been pleased with the ADC Pro/Trac, which checks the lateral tracking angle at two places on the disc rather than just one. Vertical tracking force settings on many tonearms are inaccurate, so we always double-check VTF with the Shure SFG-2 gauge.
Since records are often slip-cued, the radio station uses felt mats on the turntable platters. If you want to play disc jockey at home, you can find felt at any fabric store and cut it to size. Vibration can be a problem in the office building where WFMT is located, and so we purchased special McCurdy pedestals for our Technics turntables. The turn tables are suspended on springs and held in place by 90-pound weights. You can just about tap dance and still not disturb a cartridge. The front of each pedestal is open for rack-mounting equipment.
Such expensive, professional pedestals might not be a big hit at home, where something more subtle is called for. The Platter Matter turntable mat does a fine job of soaking up vibrations. It's made from a soft, tacky material that bonds tightly to the record. To remove the record, you must literally peel the Platter Matter away. For optimum performance, it's important that the-record be clean, because dust reduces the mat's tackiness.
Electrons aren't terribly particular about how they get where they're going, but they prefer an easy path. Some bar gain patch cords (including some sup plied with equipment) give the electrons the equivalent of a dirt road. At WFMT we make most of our own cables and patch cords, because we need unusual lengths and special connectors. We generally solder the appropriate Switchcraft connector onto high-quality Belden cable, and sometimes we use standard, ready-made Switchcraft patch cords, which hold up well under heavy use.
At home, I've found that the Audio Technica AT-620 Vital Link cables do make a difference. It's like providing the electrons with a four-lane interstate highway. The AT cables come in 1-meter lengths and are ideal for phono cables. For longer runs, I use Switchcraft.
The thicker the speaker cables, the better. Our engineers are utterly op posed to many of the "special" cables currently on the market because of capacitance and reactance problems they create. WFMT, therefore, uses plain old 10-gauge cable. For home use, however, cable that thick can be difficult to handle-and an eyesore as well. If you have to go the high-tech route, Monster Cable is probably your best bet. It is quite flexible, more pleasing visually than ordinary cable, and clearly coded for proper speaker phasing. This last at tribute is no small issue; I'm tired of straining my eyes to determine polarity with ordinary zip cord. Monster Cable also has the virtue of creating no un pleasant side effects for your amplifier.
Tips for Taping
Just like brushing your teeth after every meal, you should clean the tape heads after every playing. WFMT uses full-strength ethyl alcohol. You also can use isopropyl alcohol, but avoid rubbing alcohol, which includes scents and other "impurities." To apply the cleaner, Nortronics cotton swabs are favored because their tips don't shed as much as those of ordinary drugstore swabs, and the long wooden handles are ideal for cleaning hard-to-reach places. (They're the only swabs that can reach the heads in my car deck.) The TDK HC-1 head cleaner cassette is good for interim cleanings, when there isn't time for alcohol and swabs.
Engineers at WFMT find that most open-reel tape machines do not need head demagnetization. If you think that the heads on your deck do, the R.B. Annis Company of Indianapolis makes a good heavy-duty demagnetizer. Cassette decks sometimes pose special accessibility problems, for which Nakamichi offers a small hand-held unit. Certainly the most convenient head demagnetizer, especially for use in the car, is the TDK HD-01. Contained entirely within a cassette shell, it performs its chore quickly and automatically.
WFMT records and edits more tape than most recording studios. We purchase our blank Ampex tape in pancakes on hubs and wind it onto our own reels.
This saves considerable expense. If you use a lot of tape for home recording, you can do the same thing, though you probably will have to buy tape by the carton to get it on hubs. Polyline makes excel lent inexpensive plastic reels. Metal reels don't increase performance level-only price-but poor-quality plastic reels can compromise performance. In particular, look for flat, parallel flanges.
Since we edit tapes of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Lyric Opera of Chicago, nothing less than perfection will do. Aluminum EdiTall blocks are glued to all of our tape machines. We use ordinary single-edge industrial razor blades to cut the tape and an unbranded splicing tape. We were quite partial to Scotch 632 splicing tape, but it has become difficult to find. Never use a splicing machine: They make terrible splices and damage the tape, and the splicing tape can gum up the tape heads when improperly applied. (Our splicing tape is 3/16 inch wide, so when properly applied, it's a safe distance from the tape edge.) If you're serious about editing, stick with EdiTall blocks.
There are editing blocks for cassette tapes. too, but most people don't edit cassettes-only repair them. When my car deck ate a favorite tape, I discovered the simple and inexpensive Scotch Cassette Editing and Repair Kit. It contains a hex driver for winding the cassette, a splicing block, precut splicing tape, and long sticky tabs for reaching into the cassette shell and pulling out the broken tape. I've rescued quite a few cassettes with this small tool.
If you're an ambitious home recordist and make live recordings, a few accessories can make the job easier and the sound better. Vibration can sometimes create strange gremlins in the bass region that muddy the sound of condenser mikes. Professionals use expensive spider-type shock mounts that are both fragile and bulky. Since WFMT does a lot of live remote recording where it’s difficult to carry these around, we use the Shure A-53M shock mount: a rubber doughnut that holds the mike. On multi-mike recordings, tangled cables tend to make it difficult to tell which cable goes to which mike. Beyer and Audio-Technica both market mike cables in a rainbow of colors, so you'll always know which mike is plugged into which input.
The metering systems of some tape decks and mixing consoles leave a lot to be desired. Accurate level displays that are easy to read can actually improve a recording by letting you know what's really going onto the tape. The Audio Technology 510B LED display is a useful, though expensive, little box with dual rows of green, yellow, and red LEDs that indicate recording levels when calibrated to your deck.
WFMT improvises many of its own accessories. You may want to do the same, particularly if commercial products don't quite meet your needs. There is a variety of speaker stands in wood, plastic, and rubber, and most work about equally well. If you're not terribly concerned about decor, bricks or cinder blocks do the same job for less. Just re member to place some cardboard or fabric between the bricks and your speakers to avoid damaging the wood finish.
WFMT has even used cardboard boxes for temporary speaker stands.
Acoustics are difficult to deal with, but now there's an accessory that can make your system sound better by making your room sound better, and it's not an equalizer. If you line the walls in the vicinity of your speakers with Sonex acoustic foam, early reflections from the speakers are dramatically decreased.
The result is cleaner sound with better imaging; if you are using a stereo image enhancer, the foam will improve the illusion dramatically. Attractively patterned in triplets of miniature "anechoic" wedges, the Sonex foam comes in rolls or squares and is easy to install. About $175 worth will treat an average room.
WFMT is experimenting with it in studios and control rooms.
If you bought all the accessories mentioned here, it might cost as much as a small stereo system. But with none, you might not hear all that your system is capable of. Be selective in purchasing your accessories, or you may run into my problem: I've run out of places to put everything.
The Value of a Long-Term Appraisal.
This inside look at WFMT provides a unique opportunity to evaluate tape and record care accessories over the long term. When we at HF-or, for that matter, any other audio magazine-"test" these types of accessories, we can only comment on whether or not they work in the immediate sense. WFMT presents an equally valuable, though obviously somewhat subjective perspective. And that H F's test results ("Phonographic Prescriptions: Do They Work?", May 1980) and WFMT's preferences agree in many cases is of consider able interest. -Ed
(High Fidelity, Jul. 1981)
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