I was told “an audiophile is measured by the tools he/she uses”.
Personally, I think this was meant more for an analogue audiophile. Most record spinners will have a record brush at their disposal for obvious reasons. Most people do not realize it does have positive contribution to better audio performance.
The gentleman who made the above statement was so kind to present me as a gift, The Kanade Record Cleaner. A gentle brushing from that record cleaner on a spinning record made me realized that there are positive auditory differences. I tried it on a number of guests who entered my audio den and all of them agreed.
I think most readers can appreciate my enthusiasm when given an opportunity to review the Levin Record Brush. My usual practice is to brush the record twice before playing (what’s your preference?).
I have been using the Levin Brush on both cleaned records (with my Loricraft Professional Cleaner) and new, but uncleaned, records. I found the results to be quite similar on both types of records.
I shall illustrate the effect with one of my current showcase vinyl records, the Winds of War and Peace conducted by Lowell Graham and the National Symphonic Winds (Wilson Audiophile/Analogue Productions APC 8823).
After only but a brushing or two, it’s obvious from the first instance that images tightened and greater separation resulted within the same soundstage of the presentation.
In addition, the bass took on a different stance altogether. It was not only more delineated and controlled, but the hit was directional and powerful.
To me, it can be said that the whole frequencies of a tone snapped together and acted together as they should be.
Next on the turntable platter, Test Record 1 Depth of Image (Opus 3 79-00). Following the above result, I found the density of each image and its holographic-ness improved significantly. I believed that it also made the audible airiness of the recording venue more profound.
Finally, I wish to clarify that the Levin Brush does not make the above possible if the analogue source is not up to mark. It’s more of a tool that brushes off the hindrances against the analogue transducer’s performance. That, to me, is MAGICAL enough.
