HI AND WELCOME TO THIS PAGE. FIRST LET ME INTRODUCE YOU TO MY PAGE, AND WHY THESE SIMPLE FACTS COULD REALLY IMPROVE YOUR MUSIC LISTENING QUICKLY AND EASILY. I HAVE BEEN INTO COLLECTING VINYL NOT ONLY BECAUSE SOME VINYL RAPIDLY APPRECIATES IN VALUE IF RARE BUT BECAUSE I ACTUALLY LOVE THE WAY IT SOUNDS AND VINYL IF UTILIZED WITH THE RIGHT GEAR IS NON FATIGUING COMPARED TO CD'S . SOMETIMES IF I HAVE BEEN BLESSED WITH TIME I WILL SIT TOTALLY CONSUMED BY THE  MUSIC COMING OUT OF MY TUBE SYSTEM SETUP FOR HOURS UPON HOURS UNTIL SOMEONE INTRUDES INTERRUPTING THE HEAVENLY INTIMATE AMBIENCE OF MY LISTENING EXPERIENCE. ANOTHER THING I AM NOT HERE TO BATTLE OVER THE VIRTUES OF VINYL BUT WRITING THIS GUIDE TO IMPROVE YOUR ACTUAL LISTENING EXPERIENCE WITH THESE SIMPLE STEPS SO YOUR MUSICAL ENLIGHTENMENT FLOURISHES OPENING UP YOUR MUSICAL EXPERIENCES AND HORIZONS INFINETLY.

            First and foremost you do not have to instantly go out and buy a VIP, Nitty Gritty or other vacuum system spending a small fortune. I currently am using a cheap 40 dollar record vac that does well. I will touch upon this more later but the most critical area to improve your listening of course is the actual vinyl you are listening to in steps- Vinyl, stylus. cartridge, tonearm, table, isolation, preamplifier or step up phono stage, amplifier, speakers. Start your journey by first going through this simple chain and finding the weakest links and than improving if you are finacially able and willing.

         Vinyl or good decent in shape vinyl should be void of first dirt dust oil or other contaminants. Of course also when looking avoid records that are scratched or warped. So when buying records if you can not inspect yourself at least properly investigate your source for instance here on E-bay. Look at their feedback and more importantly make sure they fully understand how to grade records before purchasing vinyl from them. Vinyl of course can be easily be cleaned in a few steps. First get a soft cloth and than make a solution of about 2 drops of liquid dish washing solution such as joy or dawn mixed into a quart of warm water, and incorporate a few tablespoons of rubbing alcohol. Go to your sink and take the record out of its sleeve and run warm water over it to try washing most of the dirt off before using your solution being careful not to get the labels wet. Doing this step first removes most of the gritt that could damage your record when you are wiping it down with the record washing solution. Now wipe down carefully with this solution and rinse well under warm running water. This rinsing is very important because we do not want to leave any residue of the solution on the record. That is the reason for such a small amount of dish soap used.Than dry label if any excess water is there and stand your record on a regular dish rack to dry.

     Now after doing this it is all about proper record handling skills. These skills should become habits at least if you value your precious vinyl. First no no, under any circumstances do not handle your records with grubby hands. Carefully slide record out of cover by using fingers on edge and on the middle label for support. Hands are probally the biggest culprit for vinyl getting ruined from the oils that impregnate and then other contaminates becoming adhered to the oil deeply in your vinyl disrupting the integrity of the grooves that in turn ruining your listening experience. If you have a problem with this invest some money in surgical gloves to handle your vinyl. These could be bought pretty cheaply at least compared to the problems of not handling your precious lps correctly.

     Storing your album collection is also very critical because do not stack records especially in hot conditions. I store mine in alpabetical order like books in a library. Also with rare valuable ones it is good to invest in another plastic cover to keep dust out. One day I will go out and do my whole collection.

Next step is very critical as well, your stylus. If your stylus is damaged it not only will affect your listening experience but also could damage your precious vinyl permanently. So take precaution when handling your turntable's tonearm, and never never grap your stylus with your fingers only use a brush to remove debris or blow it off because this is also just as important as keeping your records clean. Always clean from the back of the stylus to the front that would be the outermost point of the tonearm. Their are many stylus cleaning solutions and brushes that are cheap and readily available to take care of your stylus. Inspect your stlus as well to make sure that it is not badly damaged or completely worn so you do not damage your records.Better to invest in a new stylus than a new lp collection!

   Now try to make sure that your turntable is in a very safe secure area that will not be affected from movement. Their are many ways to isolate your turntable but I will not go into this at the moment later I will go into detail about turntables so subscribe to my list or put me on your favorite sellers list or email me at my site because i will be happy to answer any questions.

  Well I hope you attained something from my quick jaunt into increasing your vinyl listening experience. Remember that these simple and basically cheap steps will increase the enjoyment of your record playing. Soon I'll be adding many records I was fortunate to get a DJ's collection that is immaculate as well as some of my seconds and thirds from my own collection as well as primo stereo equipment. It has been a pleasure and I hope you get to enjoy your records as much as I do.ENJOY!