Furutech demagnetizer
 

Mikey Fremer swears by it. He made recordings on CDs from both the pre and post demagnetized LPs and let people judge to see if there is a difference in sound, everyone heard a difference. The theory makes sense too, at least with LPs but it also demagnetizes CDs, DVDs, etc..

http://www.furutech.com/news/FURUTECHdeMagNews2006.htm


http://www.furutech.com/news/FURUTEC...s/image004.jpg

Serge.......Is Fremer on the board at Furutech? :D

Wow,

Dan you being skeptical ? I thought that was my job :D

Don't know. :sorry: Could be... :D I may try it at some point. :yes: First I have to get a turntable though. :smoking:

Sorry guys, couldn't pass up the opportunity. It is well known that reducing the static charge in a vinyl disc reduces its attraction for dust particles, and helps reduce the possiblity of a static discharge through the cantilever into the cartridge coils. Some even believe that a high static charge in a vinyl album can alter the tracking force during play. Hardcore vinyl aficionados have worn out many Discwasher ZeroStats zapping their precious collections. Keeping the humidity in your home to around 60% helps reduce static build up through discharge into the air.

I use one and really like it. I would compare the difference it makes on a really good analog front end to going up perhaps one click better in cartridges or interconnects.

If you have a pretty major system, it can be the icing on the cake that gives you a few more drops of analog goodness. Everything sounds just a bit smoother and more relaxed.

However, I've tried it on every kind of optical disc I can think of and can not hear any difference that I can put my finger on.

This is a tweek for the man who has everything. If you have bare wood or tile floors in your listening room, a big glass coffee table, or a huge rack of gear between your speakers, don't bother with this accessory, you have bigger fish to fry.

Slightly off topic, but I use a Nespa Pro CD Finalizer. It is another wonderful tweak that works.

They are expensive & hard to find. :yes:

Ivan.......I had never heard of the Nespa Pro CD Finalizer before you mentioned it, and had to do a search. For those who don't know what it is, or does:

Nespa is an optical disc finaliser, recommended to us by customer Gordon Hurden. The device offers a way of improving the disc by ‘finishing’ the manufacturing process: each newly-made CD and DVD contains gases trapped between the plastic and the reflective metal layer inside the disc. The Nespa is designed to disperse these gases, bonding the metal layer more tightly onto the plastic.

How does it do it?
The Nespa contains a Xenon lightbulb which flashes a high-intensity broadband light at an inserted disc. That’s all that’s needed to break up and disperse the gases between the reflective layer and the plastic, with the result that your player is able to read the disc more accurately, employing less of its error correction circuitry.

What are the improvements?
We’ve treated very familiar discs and can confirm that the differences are far from subtle – they are huge, like listening to a fresh recording. Detail and soundstage is enhanced, subtle cues are reproduced and the micro-dynamics of recordings emerge from the mix. And the sound is less fatiguing, and more 'vinyl-like'.

Here's a link to Ultra Audio's write up: http://www.ultraaudio.com/equipment/..._nespa_pro.htm

Do you treat every single disc you own, or just selected discs?

I only treat selected Discs, and yes it does work. :yes:

it's in the label
 

I wish someone would explain how a CD or LP could become magnetized, since there's not a shred of ferrous material in either one :no: Maybe there's a little in the label ink? :scratch2: Static electrical charges are for real of course, although they don't seem accumulate on (polycarbonate) optical media, just vinyl LP's.

I've found the best way to get static off a record and remove any remaining specks of junk in the groove at the same time, is with a grounded carbon fiber brush. Zerostats will temporarily neutralize the neg. charge on the record surface, but cannot 'drain off' any residual charge stored in the record or, depending on its material, in the platter.

If the Nespa works as suggested, it's because the light heats up the gas enough to cause it to expand and disperse through the plastic (or out the edges of the laminated disc?) without melting the plastic :icon_thumbsdown: (So far, no one has actually demonstrated the presence of such gases.)

One can however greatly improve the ability of a transport to deliver maximum data to the DAC for making music (and video) by reducing the number of bits (out of limited total) it consumes doing error-correction. Getting the disc to spin evenly, and eliminating laser reflections inside the plastic medium, yield the biggest bang for the "error reduction" buck, and you can kill both birds at once with Reiner Glass' Audiodesksysteme trimmer/lathe http://www.audiodesksysteme.de/index.php?kat=10_17_6 This device not only trues up the disc so it will spin without any wobble error, but at the same time bevels/de-glazes the edge of the disc, eliminating internal laser reflections -- it will improve DVD playback for the same reasons.

I've found the most effective audio tweaks are those which work for very obvious and scientifically sound reasons. With due respect to Father Fremer, I'd prefer to spend my 'miracle money' where there's a potential for better results - perhaps religion, or politics? :D