FORUMS
In the May Issue's Analog Corner, Michael Fremer passes along a warning from a reader about LAST Record Preservative, and asks for other readers' experiences with the product. Since Mr. Fremer doesn't specify an address for replies, I thought I'd post mine here.
The reader warned that LAST Record Preservative made his records sound less bright and more pleasing on his own system, but later, when played on a system of higher resolution than his own, the treated LPs sounded "dead," with "no ambience around instruments or voices." This has not been my experience. I have used LAST Record Preservative for nearly twenty years. On occasions when I have compared the sound of a record before and after applying the product, I sometimes noticed that high frequencies sounded smoother and clearer after the treatment. There was no less ambience or air.
Over the years I have purchased CDs of many of the same recordings I have on vinyl. Some, I noticed, had a very similar tonal balance to the LP versions. Last night, after reading Analog Corner, I compared several of these to see if the records treated with LAST had degraded over the years. They have not. The tonal balance remains as similar as I remember, in fact, most of the LPs actually have more ambience and air than their CD counterparts.
I should mention that I use a VPI record cleaning machine at least every few plays. In their reply to Mr. Fremer's recommendation of LAST Record Preservative in the October issue, The LAST Factory mentions that mold release compound can continue to diffuse to the surface over time. LAST makes no claim that your records will never need to be cleaned again. I wonder if this could be the cause of the problem the reader encountered.
If our kind moderator would like to provide an address for Mr. Fremer, I will send this along. Or perhaps someone could just draw his attention to this thread. Thank you.
