Yes, I still have mine. It is called Sound Guard - Total Record Care System. It even had date-of-application stickers so that you could easily identify the date you last treated each LP. It worked well for me, but I have no fluid left.

Well there is a new model Loricraft coming out in August that is a Laser Turntable. Uses 5 Laser beams. Claims No wear and accurate sound reproduction. Plays warped and rippled records and no needle scrap sounds. Now if I only had $10,500.

Bestbang4thebuck,

Wasn't that the Garrard Zero 100 model?

An interesting approach to linear tracking.

The additional pivot points have to be kept low friction.

There is something compelling about a linear tracking arm. But to do it right is expensive. I used a Harmon Kardon / Rabco ST7 for a while (I sill have it packed away somewhere) but the arm was very finicky. I think most current linear tracking arms use an air bearing design. Very low friction BUT a design tradeoff is getting acoustic energy (such as from the stylus or the arm mass/cartridge compliance resonance) out of the arm.

A good brand of tonearm, especially for the money, is the Rega series of arms. When I get around to upgrading my arm, Rega is going to be first on my list to consider, unless I win the lotto and can afford thousands for an arm. In which case the top of the line Rega would still be a contender.

Paul

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the 1derful1

Paul: I don’t remember the exact model, but I think you’ve either hit it on the head or come very close.

I was intrigued by the principle of that parallel arms system, but my early impression of that product, once it was in my hands, was that it could have been constructed to slightly higher build standards without appreciable cost increase. Then again, the target market was the consumer that wanted better playback without true high-end pricing. As such, it meant that even while in college, I could scrape together enough $$ to buy one. So I merely resolved to be especially careful with that TT. All-in-all, a product I enjoyed.

I find it interesting that when linear trackers first came out, they were advertised as the next best thing to sliced bread. But look at what turntables are available today: not many linear trackers at all. I think the hype outweighed the benefits.

There was a company Finial something or other that had a laser-based turntable system a while ago. I believe they went out of business because the technology was too expensive to support the volume they needed to survive.

JWallace, thanks! Sound Guard was indeed the name of the record treatment system. As soon as I read your posting all kinds of memories of those days came back. It was a bit of a time consuming process, but it did protect the groves and definately reduced static and dust. I can still see the black box it came in. I have no idea where it is, probably ended up being thrown out when I ran out of solution and the CD craze hit, (it was expensive solutions compared to Discwasher). Thanks again.

Kevin,

I think the company with the turntable will have a hard time surviving if that is all they have on the plate. The ad was in the latest addition of Stereophile. The only other product the company advertised was a $1800 record cleaning machine. I really believe in record cleaning but not to the tune of $1800. May be a great product and a great cmpany but I am not familar with them and even when I was spending more on audio equipment than I do now I would not get a $10,000 turntable or a $1800 record cleaning system.

It is also a shame that I find the ads in Stereophile more interesting than the articles. My 25 year old copies were highly anticipated. They were not always on time and did not even ship monthly but I enjoyed them. Same with the Absolute Sound. But in my opinion they both sold out. Now it took a $1 a issue special to even get me to renew.

OFCCM- It's wierd because I am a recent subscriber to Stereophile (12-18 months), and I honestly ignore 90% of the text. But what I zero in on are the measurements. I think they do *some* of the best speaker reviews out there (along with Soundstage; they also do measurements, ... at the NRC in Canada! www,audiovideoreviews.com and look up the speaker reviews with the NRC logo next to them). I also have read a lot of letters to the editor at Stereophile, and makes me sad that I didn't become a subscriber earlier!


[This message has been edited by Kevin C Brown (edited July 17, 2003).]

I stopped subscribing to Stereophile when I found that Costco toilet paper was cheaper and softer to the touch (my wife appreciates that).

SH- I've found you just have to crinkle it up a bunch of times to get the paper soft enough...