Q: I’ve purchased several products based on your recommendations. The Spin-Clean Record Washer was the latest, and I’m so happy with it. How often do you recommend using it to wash each record? Should I was a record each time before playing it? Would using my record cleaning brushes between washes be good practice?
A: The Spin-Clean performs a very effective deep clean of your records. I think if you clean them and put them in a high-quality protective sleeve, you probably won’t need to clean them again for years, if ever. I would gauge recleanings based on whether the records look or sound dirty. You are correct that using a record brush to remove surface dust before playing is a good practice.
Mobile Fidelity Original Master Record Inner Sleeves are $20 for a pack of 50 and are far nicer than any sleeve that comes with a vinyl album. They are perfect for storing your records after you have cleaned them. (mofi.com)
Proofing proof
Q: I saw the reader question about using the Pragatism electric warming tray for proofing dough. I am a home baker and use it for this. I use a potholder placed under the bowl and monitor it. It works great!
A: Thank you for this tip. I expected that it could be used to proof dough, but had not tried it myself. I received a lot of good reader feedback about this product, including a suggestion to go back and buy the midcentury fondue set that I passed up. (I might have to stop by that store again to see if it still is there.) If you have discovered any other useful applications for this product, drop me a line and I’ll share it with readers.
Buy sooner rather than later
I just returned from the AXPONA (Audio Expo North America) show in Chicago and was able to talk to many industry executives representing a wide range of companies from big to small. Tariffs were the story of AXPONA, with many conversations going on publicly and privately regarding what the industry plans to do going forward. A common refrain was no one wants to raise prices, and they were holding the line as long as they could with current inventory and doing their best to keep price increases to a minimum.
Another common concern was the constantly shifting landscape, with tariff rates changing regularly as well as the differing levies based on country of origin. Many electronics manufacturers and distributors source their products from multiple nations, so these differences complicate product planning. They may source their products, even within a category, from two or three countries. For example, one manufacturer I spoke with sells turntables made in China, Japan and the Philippines, depending on the model.
Something else I heard was that some companies are going to cease shipments and not import anything, avoiding the tariffs until they have some certainty going forward. These stoppages already have started in some cases and could lead to shortages if they go on for very long.
