L�Art du Son Professional Audio Record Cleaning Liquid
by Robert H. Levi

Record cleaning fluid from Germany with a French name�sounds good to me! As an audiophile snob, I like the idea of taking care of my treasured LPs with L�Art du Son Professional Audio Record Cleaning Liquid. The fluid, which is imported by Classic Records, is supplied as a concentrate that makes a gallon of cleaner when mixed with distilled water. I think it can be stretched to beyond one gallon, so let�s at least one gallon. The little bottle of concentrate is $45, so it�s not exactly cheap, but other high-end solutions are as high as $179 per quart! This fluid is as effective as any record cleaner I�ve tried in my VPI 16.5, including my own brew. It also provides a bonus by counteracting the effects of lesser cleaning solutions used in the past and by rejuvenating the dynamics of your LPs.

I tried L�Art on all kinds of LPs, new and old, classic and newly remastered. It worked well every time.  It does not appear critical that one use distilled water, though I did. It states in the instructions to shake well, but don�t get carried away, because the non-alcohol cleaner bubbles up. It applied to the record without fuss and was removed quickly.

The home brew I�ve used for years contains alcohol. I cleaned successive records on one side with my brew and the other with L�Art, and L�Art won every time! How, you ask?? The L�Art makes records sound more dynamic and airy. The alcohol-based fluid sounded clean, but constricted and sort of flat. I panicked, but thankfully I had been remiss in the frequency with which I washed my LPs. I quickly used the L�Art on the sides I had treated with the alcohol blend and they seemed to improve. Time will tell, but I am retiring the home brew for L�Art.

The fluid improved the sound of older LPs. I had not cleaned them recently, and L�Art performed exactly as I�d hoped. At $100 for great used LPs and $33 for new ones, I didn�t want to accidentally ruin any. I recently acquired a 45 rpm Louis Armstrong test pressing from Classic Records, and used it as a test. I cleaned half with L�Art, the other half was not cleaned. The cleaned side was quieter and more dynamic. The mids were improved, with increased definition and more palpable musical textures. Even 200-gram virgin vinyl sounded better with L�Art. An occasional wet wash is the ONLY way to assure that you get optimum LP playback.

I strongly recommend L�Art du Son Record Cleaning Liquid. One bottle should last about three years for the typical audiophile. It�s the Tabasco equivalent for records�it perks them up and lasts until your spouse would prefer to make reservations than dinner.Robert H. Levi