HIFI SCENE (Extract) by René Werner and Peter Steinmann (translated from German)  
     
  Audiotop Vinyl1  
     
  Those who treasure their analog records treat them with care. Once in a while they give them a wash. Of course this is not done with normal drink water but with special fluids which are on offer here and there. The listener and collector is astonished again and again how brilliant old records sound after such a face lifting. This is not a new topic and I was rather suprised to receive three bottles from René Werner marked on the outside with A, B and C. The bottles contained three unknown substances and I was asked to test them for their capabilities. "Try them out and tell me what you think".

The procedure was not difficult: First I cleaned three records with my usual fluid (Grooveclean from SR Trade) on both sides. This just to be on the safe side - many of my black records are treated with LAST. I then cleaned side 1 with fluid A, side B with fluid B. I cleaned the second record - side 1 with A and side 2 with B. The third record was washed: side 1 with C and side 2 with B.

I could hear no difference to my usual cleaning fluid with the A and C fluids. However, detergent B made a difference. There was suddenly more space, it was quieter, there was less noise, and noticeably more resolution in the high frequencies as well as clearer middle frequencies, an extremely (yes extremely!) cleaner low frequencies.

And how was the room information, the fine and raw dynamics and all the small shades and nuances? It's all there. I had and still have the feeling that for the first time every little bit of information was extracted from the record. The amount of information that is within a record is amazing! What the chemical constitution (or the name) of this magic fluid is I do not know. I assume it is a fluid with a high grade of purity. Who knows? Let me conclude with this: Never before have my records sounded so brilliant. Try it yourself and then decide. A small adventure awaits you. I promise! René Werner may tell us what the mysterious bottles contained.

René Werner tells us what the fluids were:

All that remains is to reveal the secret behind the mysterious bottles: Product A: Groovclean by SR Trade AG, CH-8050 Zurich; Product B: Vinyl1 by Audiotop Products, CH-6513 Monte Carasso; Product C: Reson DC-1000 by Karlev-Audio AG, CH-5443 Niederrohrdorf.