A while back I was listening to a copy of Blood, Sweat and Tears second self titled album I’d recently bought. While I’d had this record in my collection for some time, I bought this particular copy because I wanted one in better condition. By the way, if you don’t already own this record and you have any interest in their music, you HAVE TO GET THIS RECORD!!! Man it sounds good and copies are pretty cheap.

Anyway on this particular day I was playing the record for about the second or third time since I’d bought it and cleaned it and I had the house to myself and so I started ticking up the volume a bit and then a bit more and then a bit more and WOW! The album really came to life in a way I had never heard before. Needless to say I was pretty excited to have acquired such a great sounding copy!

A while later I had a similar experience with a Pretty Things record. I had cleaned it well and played it once and not again right away and then played it for a second or third time since the cleaning and again, WOW! This record sounded better that I’d ever heard it sound before. Then it happened again with a yet another album and I realized I was onto something.

It appears that even after the vinyl is well cleaned some crud remains in the grooves and when the needle moves through the grooves a few times it clears away the balance of whatever didn’t get come out with the original cleaning. When this happens the needle can sit right into the groove and viola! Magic happens!

So if you want to do everying thing you can to get the most out of record, make sure to clean it properly and then play it a few times before deciding if the record really delivers. You may be surprised by what you hear!