Here at Audio T Portsmouth we've been having a good old natter, discussing the accessories that we feel have made a big difference to our own set-ups or those we've tried in store. Whether you're looking to build and improve on your own Hi-Fi/AV system, or you want to buy a gift for that beloved Hi-Fi enthusiast in your life, here we have for you our Top Five Fantastic Accessories to help you get the most from your system!

So come with me now on a journey of discovery as we look at five products that you may have seen, you may have not, but we assure you they can make a big difference!

Pro-Ject VS-S2 ALU Record Cleaner

OK, I know what some of you are saying - "But Brad, I don't play records, this is completely irrelevant to me!" Well, to that I reply - "Get in to records, they're awesome!”

You don't get the same experience from any other medium. There's something about the whole tactile experience. Removing it from the sleeve, placing it on the turntable, enjoying the whole album without skipping a track, appreciating the sleeve and artwork... It's obviously a love affair of mine.

But if that doesn't sway you, then skip to the next product.

I was only introduced to the world of professional record cleaners when I joined Audio T last year. I think it's safe to say that we've all seen those £30 cleaners that seem to just spin the record vertically in a small bath of liquid... Now, my only thought here would be that I wouldn't want to get in a bath after a load of other people have been in there, so why would I put my records through the same thing?

The VS-S2 ALU is the latest in the range of pro-ject record cleaners

The Pro-Ject VS-S2 ALU record cleaner is by far one of the best cleaning solutions within its price-range.

The concept is simple: The record sits on a platter and is kept in place by an aluminium screw-on clamp (which also protects the records label from any excess cleaning fluid), you apply said fluid to the surface of the record and spread it out evenly with the provided brush. Move the robust, metal vacuum arm in to place over the record, turn on the motor and the extremely powerful vacuum. The record spins and the vacuum sucks! Your record should be clean in one or two rotations, but the Pro-Ject VS-S2 has a bi-directional motor, so you can give it a spin in each direction to achieve the best result.

As for the fluid itself, Pro-Ject offer the Wash-IT concentrate series, which is not only eco-friendly but also non-alcoholic, so it won't corrode your records - plus it reduces the vinyls static charge, so it will protect the record and stylus and significantly reduce wear.

Brad Tyler (Large).jpg — “I’ve used this machine to clean records that I’ve owned from new and noticed a HUGE change in the depth, quality and clarity of sound! An absolute must have for the hardcore vinyl users out there”

Now, I'm not saying this is made for every vinyl enthusiast. If you've got 20 to 30 records, it's probably not an accessory on your wish-list. But, if like me you have hundreds (if not thousands) of records, then it’s a worthwhile investment!

Audioquest RCA Jack Noise-Stopper

One of the things that Mark (our illustrious Website manager) suggested is the Audioquest Noise-Stopper Caps. Certainly not the most expensive accessory on this list, but possibly one of the most overlooked ones out there that can resolve an issue that you didn't even know you had.

You may not realise it but we are continually surrounded by Radio Frequency and Electromagnetic Interference (RF/EMI Interference). These fairly innocuous waves have a nasty habit of entering our equipment through unused connections and negatively affecting the clarity and dynamics of our Hi-Fi or AV set-ups. The best solution to stopping this, is to cap all of your unused inputs. Audioquest make a range of these caps, from the RCA Jack (pictured) to XLR, HDMI, USB and RJ45 Optical.

When Mark implemented these on his own Denon AV amp at home, not only did it drastically improve the noise floor and clean-up the signal, but he also found that it improved the general quality -

Mark Henley (Large).jpg — "This rather simple solution turned the sound of my generic AV set-up in to that of a more of a refined stereo amp. Everything became more focused, less hazy, and far more detailed. There was also a noticeable difference in the sound-stage that I just didn't expect".

Considering you get 10 caps for around £40, this is definitely worth trying at home, regardless of whether you're solely Hi-Fi or AV... Give it a go and let us know your thoughts.

one of the most cost effective solutions on our top five list.

Naim Power-Line Lite IEC Mains Cable

Naim Audio have been a powerhouse in Hi-Fi since its founding in 1973 by renowned engineer, Julian Vereker. Known for pushing the boundaries of “The norm”, the British company has always been at the forefront of innovation. Now, when it comes to fans of Naim, they don't come much bigger than our fabled store manager, Nick.

With almost 45 years worth of experience in the Hi-Fi industry, Nick has been in the business almost as long as Naim. So, if he suggests something... I tend listen to what he has to say! With Nick being the ultra Naim fan that he is, I wasn't surprised when he recommended a Naim product as his accessory of choice.

I think it's safe to say that we've all heard the expression “Your signal chain is as strong as its weakest link”, but I think that what a lot of us don't seem to appreciate is that this includes EVERY link, even our power cables!

Derived from the industry-standard Power-Line and using the same de-coupling techniques, the Power-Line Lite was developed at the same time as the UnitI range from Naim.

Featuring a high-gloss floating cable retainer, Thermoset resin case and floating pins within the case for superior electrical contact, the Power-Line Lite will improve the quality of your AV or Hi-Fi, regardless of the manufacturer.

Nick Chapman (Large).jpg — “It's a great solution to improve the musicality of your set-up without spending too much money. The self-aligning pins reduce the floor noise and improve the quality of the sonics.”

So, on Nick's recommendation I found myself in a bit of a comparison challenge. Whilst the differences are subtle in some cases, there was definitely an improvement in bass response, added clarity in the treble, and it generally opened up the soundstage. Definitely one to try if you want to get the best your system.

Audioquest Vodka Ethernet Cable

This is one for all of you streamers out there!

Having been with Audio T for 20 years, Joe shines out as our resident AV nut. His accessory of choice was one that he found to make a huge difference on his own system at home.

Arguably one of the most controversial subject matters when discussing interconnects is the humble digital cable. All you have to do is look up any Hi-Fi blog and you'll see most people saying that “digital is digital”, and “How can a cable make the difference?”, well to those naysayers I say “Give it a go for yourself! It REALLY does make a difference”.

A major contributing factor to the degradation of a digital signal is strand interaction within the cable itself. This is one of the biggest sources of distortion. Audioquest tackle this by using solid, 10% silver conductors which completely remove any possibility of that pesky strand interaction, giving you a more involved, cleare and dynamic sound.

As you can see, this is a seriously industrial connection.

In the words of Audioquest - “Superior conductor metals minimize distortion by having fewer grain boundaries and less impurities (such as oxides) at those boundaries. Solid High-Density Polyethylene (PE) insulation helps maintain critical signal-pair geometry.”

Joe Reed (Large).jpg — *“When it came to switching over to the Audioquest Vodka, I noticed an instant improvement in the sound-stage and sonics. Everything became bigger with much more detail and presence”*.

Even our customers don't have a bad word to say about it on our online reviews.

IsoAcoustic Gia / IsoAcoustic Aperta

I’ll admit that this may be cheating, as I’ve already published a blog post on how I feel about the IsoAcoustic stands, that said, I cannot stress to you enough what a difference these made when I’ve used them in store! The fact that they have products like the Gaia for floor-stander users, as well as the Aperta for bookshelf speakers, means that everyone can get onboard.

Three GAIA models tuned and optimized for each weight range

A lot of people may assume that isolation will give them a tighter bass response. What they may not realise is that the IsoAcoustic options shown here, also have an amazing ability to open-up the soundstage and create fantastic clarity in the upper-mid frequencie. This allows for better isolations of instrumentation and vocals.

The aperta doesn’t only elevate and isolate your speaker, but also allows you to angle vertically.

Should you want to see any of these products in the flesh, or want to discuss them further, be sure to give us a shout or pop in to the shop.

Brad, Nick and Joe - Audio T Portsmouth

Be sure to keep an eye on whats happening in the Portsmouth store by following us on Instagram and Facebook.

All of these products are available in all Audio T Stores.

Over the years there have been so many record and stylus maintenance products brought to market; record cloths, stylus brushes, sticky rollers, carbon fibre record brushes, anti-static guns etc, these ranged from just a few pounds to £50+ with varying degrees of success.

Pro-Ject VC-S2 Alu shown with optional Carbon fibre stylus and record brushes

Alongside these relatively affordable items lurked a number of quite exotic and in some cases hideously expensive record cleaning machines (RCM); many extremely complex in design and difficult to house. Since the ‘vinyl revival’ more and more such products have hit the market, some quite outstanding in performance but beyond the means or needs of many.

However, such products display a distinct advantage over the cloths and brushes, they actually remove all the contaminants from the record rather than merely redistribute them more evenly around the surface of the disc giving one the visual impression of a clean record. Sure, the larger fluff particles are mostly lifted by carbon brushes and their daily use is to be encouraged but such fluff is pretty benign in terms of record and stylus wear.

The real damage is caused but much harder particles of dust, grit and metal. Metal? Yes metal; especially true of new records. How’s that, one may ask? Well you only have to look at a moving coil cartridge under a microscope to see attached to the bottom is what looks like grey dust. This ‘dust’ is actually tiny shards of metal swarf (remember those old toys whereby you rearrange metal to put a beard on a face using a magnet?)

MC cartridge caked in dust and metal swarf.

My MC, arrow marks the ‘bridge’ location

So where do these metal particles come from? Well actually the only possible explanation is the factory where they are pressed; probably created by the machinery itself, which means that the most important records to clean are new ones. It’s not only the record and stylus wear that’s exhibited either. My personal and very expensive moving coil cartridge started to produce horrible distortion in low bass notes on just one channel. The distributor found upon examination that such shards of metal had formed a ‘bridge’ like some species of ants do, from the coils on the armature to the yoke impeding the movement of the assembly. Clearly this is bad news for both record and stylus, indeed many will opine that a well looked after stylus and record collection will mean it’ll be the cartridge’s suspension that will deteriorate before the stylus actually wears out; here’s the solution;

Some years back, Project identified a market for an affordable and compact RCM and thus the VC-S was launched later to become the VC-S Mk2, ironing out a few niggles in the original design.

Now the design has gone through a serious makeover to make it easier to use, quieter in operation and built to last longer whilst looking sleeker too.

Here then is the Pro-ject VC-S2 Alu, and as the name suggests, it has a very elegant aluminium finish using an aluminium-composite laminate, replacing the rather dated vinyl-wrap MDF casework. This means fluid spills no longer can seep into the casework and cause damage; it’s noticeably smaller too.

Operation is a doddle; place the record (I’ll refrain from calling them ‘vinyls’ if I may?) on to the small foam topped platter and screw down the similarly protecting foam surfaced clamp (the foam is there to prevent any fluid soaking into the label) and switch on the motor which rotates at 30rpm. Apply a generous quantity of the provided fluid and, using the goat hair brush provided scrub lightly to agitate all the contaminates to thus be suspended in the solution then simply position the arm across the disc and with the motor still running and switch on the vacuum. After one or two rotations switch the motor to reverse, allow two more rotations before lifting the arm. Finally stop the suction and then repeat on the other side leaving one with a record cleaner than new!

The bottom line is that deploying the use of carbon fibre record and stylus brushes and a Project VC-S2 RCM will not only make your records and cartridge sound better but will significantly increase their longevity for a most modest outlay.

Simon Walker - Audio T Reading

Pro-ject Hi-Fi products are available from the following branches of Audio T: Bristol, Cardiff, Cheltenham, Enfield, Manchester, Online, Oxford, Portsmouth, Preston, Swansea, Swindon