Clearaudio Goldfinger v2 Moving-Coil Cartridge & Double Matrix Record-Cleaning Machine

Deutsch Delights

How does it compare to the Air Tight PC-1? Well, when all is said and done, the Goldfinger probably isn’t quite as “fast” as the PC-1. A violin pizzicato, such as one of the many in Nadia Salerno-Sonnenberg’s performance of the Prokofiev First Sonata, doesn’t have quite the uncannily realistic “snap” with the Goldfinger that it has with the PC-1. Ditto for other hard transients. On the other hand, the Goldfinger has somewhat more natural timbres, and equals the great PC-1 in resolution and ’staging, so I guess that choosing between them depends on whether you prioritize transients or timbres. You certainly won’t be trading off much in either case.

Clearaudio recommends a tracking force somewhere around 2.8 grams; I prefer 2.75 grams in the Walker Black Diamond record player, 2.85 in the Graham Phantom/TW Acustic Raven AC-3.

PC-1 or Goldfinger? I can’t choose for you, but I can say with confidence that either one is reference quality—and that either one will “disappear” as a transducer better than any moving coil you’ve previously heard.

That disappearing act can be aided considerably by the second item I’m going to recommend—Clearaudio’s Double Matrix record-cleaning machine.

If you’re like me, cleaning LPs is like going to the dentist—a necessary evil. Indeed, I could happily skip both ordeals on most occasions, and regularly do with LPs. Yeah, records “sound” different when they’re cleaned, and different when you clean them with different fluids and devices. But different isn’t always better; sometimes it’s just different.

Let’s face it: No record cleaner on earth is going to heal a deep scratch, make a poorly recorded record sound like a great one, or prevent lousy vinyl from acquiring fresh tics. What it can do, however, is loosen the rubble that has accumulated in the grooves of years-old LPs and, if you’re lucky, wash it away. Records definitely play more easily after bathing, scrubbing, and vacuuming—with fewer stumbles and lower background hashiness—and to this extent cleaning is a definite improvement.

Up until the Double Matrix, I’d been using Clearaudio’s original Matrix to clean vinyl. It was quite good—and built like a tank. However, when push came to scrub, I’d be hard-pressed to say that the Matrix cleaned a lot better than other machines. Most of them work more or less the same way—cleaning fluid is pumped from a reservoir onto the record’s surface; a microfiber brush is lowered onto the LP; in combo with the liquid the brush loosens the dirt in the grooves (the Matrix’s “turntable” rotates in two directions, facilitating scrubbing); and the debris is then vacuumed up along with the cleaning fluid through a slot in the brush’s wand, via a suction pump that on the Matrix operates at two different levels of vacuum. Aside from being very noisy, the Matrix never gave me a problem.

Well, one problem, actually, which is endemic to single-sided record-cleaning machines. While you’re cleaning the dusty, dirty upside of the LP, the dusty, dirty downside is necessarily pressed against the record-cleaner’s cushioned platter via a clamp. To clean the downside, you then have to turn the record over. Now the newly cleaned and vacuumed side of the LP is clamped against the same cushioned platter—pressed down into whatever dust, dirt, or grime has been deposited there by the dirty side of the record. This doesn’t make much sense from a sanitation standpoint, but what’s an analog maven to do?

There didn’t seem to be an answer to this conundrum until the Double Matrix came along.

Here’s the thing: The Double Matrix cleans both sides of a record simultaneously. Through an ingenious clamping mechanism, the record is suspended on both sides, only at the label; neither the A-grooves nor the B-grooves ever touch a platter. Two micro-fiber wands—one for the upside of the disc and one for the down—are affixed above and below the LP, which is sandwiched between them. Cleaning fluid is dispensed equally over each record side. You might think the fluid would drip off the bottom of the LP, but surface tension apparently prevents this from happening. Both sides of the record are then scrubbed and vacuumed clean via the pair of micro-fiber wands. (Like the Matrix, the “platter” is bidirectional, allowing you to scrub and vacuum clockwise and then counterclockwise, and the vacuum pump has two levels of vacuum—roughly strong and Hoover.) The Double Matrix also includes a static-reducing brush (not on the Matrix), which runs over both sides of the record simultaneously (after vacuuming, please). Not only is cleaning time cut roughly in half, but the chance (or should I say, the certainty) of crosscontamination when you flip the clean side onto the dirty platter is eliminated!