Alex Cereda, owner of the Roman company Sublima, specialized in accessories for esoteric listening of music, has produced a brush which, when used on the cantilever of the head and over the surface of records, makes the most of the analog audio chain.

At the beginning of the nineties when it seemed that compact discs had replaced vinyl, it faced a funeral that was unfortunately announced in great style. However, as it turns out, vinyl was not only not buried, but after more than three decades it luckily has made a comeback, to the point of experiencing a real “renaissance”, given that manufacturing companies continue to churn out new and increasingly sophisticated turntables and not to mention that the market for arms and cartridges goes hand in hand. Furthermore, some factories, especially in Germany and Japan which produced polyvinyl chloride, i.e. the plastic polymer from which vinyl is made and which had hastily closed their doors, have decided to reopen the production chain due to the increasingly pressing requests from record companies, which, having sensed a deal, offer their new titles in LP, in addition to the digital format of CD. So, long live vinyl, to the delight of those who have never stopped listening to music as it should be done, meaning with their ears.

However, analog listening, contrary to what happens with digital (even if this is true up to a certain point), requires not only a proper fine-tuning of one’s audio system, therefore a correct calibration of the platter, the tonearm and the needle, but also of a proper cleaning of the record you want to listen to, to prevent the number one enemy from coming out of the speakers: creaks, sizzles and anything else that affects the pleasure of listening. As analog enthusiasts well know, these problems are often generated by the presence not only of dust or dirt, but also by the electrostatic charge that interacts between the surface of the vinyl and which is captured and read by the cantilever, i.e. the “stylus”, of the head. Thus, the cleaner the record is (there are special machines for washing our beloved vinyl records), the more accurate the head reads the information in the disc. But, unfortunately, sometimes not even a proper cleaning of the vinyl (as well as of the “stylus” itself) allows you to obtain a “faithful” listening of the record. This is because some disturbances, of different nature, i.e. mechanical, magnetic and electrical, caused by the rotation of the record in conjunction with the needle rotating in the groove, inevitably interfere with the correct reading of the sound information in the vinyl, as the head, willing or not, is forced to “absorb” these disturbances too, effectively altering what is on the record. These disturbances can be detected by our ears only when we intervene to resolve them, with the help of particular instruments or accessories capable of eradicating them or, at least, eliminating a good part of their harmful effects.

The problem, as every self-respecting audiophile knows, is to identify those instruments and accessories that are truly valid, given that the market has plenty of products that promise miracles and absolute effectiveness to “restore vinyl to all its charm ”. Unfortunately, this is not the case, but it is equally true that there are companies that are continuously researching the starting point for creating accessories that, on the contrary, are truly valid and effective. One of these (few) companies is called Sublima and is a company based in Rome, born at the will of Alex Cereda, who for many years now has been studying, researching and creating a plethora of accessories (wittingly, the patron of the company, in this regard, has coined the neologism of “necessories”, in other words accessories that are, to say the least, necessary to get the best out of your audio chain), as well as power, signal and power cables which, once used really change the face of your listening system, restoring what the recording, whether digital or analog, transmits in terms of sound information. As an audiophile enthusiast myself, I always start from the assumption that if someone sets out to review recordings, he can and must do so with an adequate audio system at his disposal to be able to grasp not only the minimal artistic nuances, but also those techniques inherent in them. I was lucky enough (sometimes, you also have to be lucky) to personally meet Alex Cereda and try his products and every time I did so, I approved the accessory he gave me to test because I realized that, thanks to the benefit that it brought to the sound of my audio system (a multi-amplified system with a total weight of almost 800 kg – approximately 1,760 lbs – and which takes up the entire listening room), I could no longer do without it. So, to stay in the analog field, I have already treasured his clamp, which must be placed above the central pin of the platter to better “block” the record during playback, and above all the fabulous Super Mat Chakra Limited Edition, the thin pad that is placed on top of the platter, so that the latter does not come into contact with the vinyl record.

Hence, every time Alex Cereda contacts me to propose testing one of his new products, I confess that I am very happy to act as a guinea pig because I now know from experience that its use will further improve the sound generated by the system. And, without fail, it was the same this time too, seeing that I have in my hands, after having experimented and tested it for a few days, a special brush that must be used on the surface of the vinyl and the cantilever before listening to it. At first sight, it is a normal brush, like those used to remove dust and other dirt from vinyl, but the fact is that this product does not have the function of cleaning the record but of eliminating those harmful electrostatic components which even after a careful cleaning of the LP persist in their ill-fated task of ruining the reading of the sound information transmitted by the grooves.

So, let me start by saying, to clear any doubt, that this particular brush is NOT used to remove dirt from the vinyl but does something much, much more important and basic: its function is to allow the record to restore and transmit the information found in the grooves, eliminating or at least substantially reducing those interferences that influence the correct transmission of sound information and which not even the most sophisticated brushes on the market used for cleaning LPs are able to do. Having clarified this, how does this Sublima brush work and what, specifically, are its peculiarities?

Let’s start from the materials this accessory is made with. The handle is made of natural wood and, depending on the batch that Sublima receives, it can be made of beech, ash, mahogany, while the bristle is made of authentic blade hair, as this type of hair, in addition to lasting over time, is very delicate and soft. Before being subjected to the treatment that makes it unique, the hair of the brush is carefully cleaned by Alex Cereda with natural detergents and if the handle or hair is not perfect, the brush is discarded. Once this first step has been done, the brush is then subjected to a polarization treatment, with the hair found at the base, at the point where it is fixed to the wooden handle, which is treated with a cocktail composed precisely of two lacquers: the first is Black Jiva, which is used wherever there is a passage of electrons or magnetic fields, and the second used in the very particular lutherie products that Alex Cereda builds, i.e. the hypertone harmonic correlators, which one day I trust to be able to talk about. This polarization process serves to direct a charge capable of conveying these disturbances from the hair of the blade to the handle of the wood of the brush in order to cancel them. In essence, the action of the brush is to electrochemically prepare the vinyl in a suitable way, consequently allowing the correct reading process of what is reported in the grooves. A reading that I was able to confirm personally by putting the brush to the test for a few days while listening to four records that I know like the back of my hand.

The first records I put on the turntable were two audiophile recordings from the Hi-Q Records label, namely a classic from Concerto n. 1 for piano by Tchaikovsky, with the phenomenal John Ogdon on keyboard and Sir John Barbirolli on the podium conducting the Philharmonia Orchestra, while the other recording is a collection of baroque and romantic pieces by Albinoni, Mendelssohn, Händel, Mozart, Bach, Pachelbel performed by Neville Marriner at the head of The Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields. After cleaning them, and the same was done with all the other records used in this test, I listened to them for the first time and then passed the Sublima brush both on the cantilever and on the vinyl grooves, listening to the vinyls again immediately afterwards, in order to have a direct comparison. Let’s start with the Russian composer’s concert; the sound of this legendary recording was fixed in December 1962 by Robert Gooch and is characterized by a notable depth that allows us to better appreciate the physical spatiality of the recording location (Studio no. 1 of Abbey Road), as well as a dynamic not common, to say the least nuclear and very fast, without however appearing at the same time artificial and unduly colored. Well, once I had used the brush, the second listening revealed something completely different: before, the piano, in terms of sound stage, was placed very far ahead of the orchestra, but now its physical reconstruction saw it further behind, almost at the same level as the orchestra; even if physically you could clearly feel the air, the empty space between first and second, with a highly palpable perception of the entire soundstage. Not only that, but the detail was more vivid, with a level of sound transparency that would leave you speechless. This transparency allowed us to better appreciate John Ogdon’s magical touch, to enhance its proverbial crystallinity, with such cleanliness in the tonal balance that the speech of the solo instrument and the orchestra was always perfectly cut out and distinguishable in the moments of together, even in those where the score includes fff! Before, listening allowed us to appreciate an excellent sound, but now, and I’m not exaggerating, it was as if the piano and the Philharmonia Orchestra were hosted in my listening room…

Affected by this first impression, I then concentrated on Marriner’s album, and I wanted to listen, in the same way, to Pachelbel’s famous Canon, followed by the equally famous Aria from Orchestral Suite no. 3 by Bach. I chose these two pieces to listen to how the string section was portrayed, including violins, violas and cellos. Also recorded at Abbey Road Studios by Stuart Eltham in October 1973, this recording excels in the skillful restoration of tonal balance, taking into account that the different sections are always perfectly distinct. It seemed to me that in terms of sound stage this sound capture was not flat, meaning that it did not lack a certain depth, as well as a more than good amplitude. But after using the brush again, I had to change my mind, due to the simple fact that now the mass of air, black that surrounded the instruments had magically made its appearance, consequently allowing the arrangement of the various bows to be identified with extreme ease, here too accompanied by a timbrical clarity that enhanced the silkiness of the strings, as well as making the moments of the attacks palpable, tactile to say the least (which, on the other hand, is plausible, considering the clever arrangement of the microphones).

At that point, I wanted to listen to an analog recording reserved for the voice and the choice fell on a first pressing by Telefunken, of the famous Das alte Werk series, with The First Booke of Ayres by Thomas Morley, dating back to 1970, with the tenor Nigel Rogers, Nikolaus Harnoncourt on viola da gamba and Eugen M. Dombois on lute. Here, the tonal balance between the voice and the accompanying instruments is very important and even if it is not an audiophile recording, it still boasts a considerable sound impact. Before using the brush, Rogers’ beautiful and full-bodied voice (the English tenor was one of the greatest interpreters of the Renaissance vocal repertoire at the very moment in which musical philology took hold in the second half of the last century) was pre-eminent compared to the viol and lute, especially when the score included a higher register, with a consequent lack of the presence of the instruments which were covered by the singing. Once the Sublima brush was used, the sound picture changed once again. From the very beginning, in fact, Nigel Rogers’ voice was reconstructed, within the sound stage, in a more rearward position and, above all, more shifted to the right (as, moreover, can be seen in a photo which can be seen found on the disc, taken during recording); not only that, because the palpability of the voice and the timbre of the two instruments was immediately noticed, a sign of a greater clarity of the dynamics, much more vivid and faster, as well as of the detail, as the focus of all the performers was more precise, sculpted in physical space. Furthermore, the expressive eloquence of Nigel Rogers’ singing, although relegated to the soundstage, was more correct in terms of tonal balance, with greater fidelity in the low and high registers and a pleasant fluidity, with the two instruments which, compared to what had happened previously, were always present, even in the moments when the high notes of the tenor made themselves heard.

Finally, I wanted to test a recording that involved a large vocal mass with a large orchestra, so I opted for another first pressing, a 1967 recording made by Deutsche Grammophon, with Charles Munch conducting the Chor und Symphonie-Orchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks in Hector Berlioz’s titanic Requiem. A score which involves almost two hundred units between the orchestra and choir and which poses inevitable problems in capturing the sound. The yellow label’s recording is not a technically flawless recording; on the contrary, as it often happens with the German record company, the sound is annoyingly flat and muddy, especially when the choir and orchestra are completely involved. After the intervention of the brush, as always both on the cantilever and on the grooves of the vinyl, I was able to notice some substantial changes. The first and most evident is that the timbrical softness that characterized this recording had attenuated, as the choral mass and the orchestral one was more contoured, more sculpted within the sound stage. This is because the physical space had acquired a more accentuated depth, thus allowing the choir to have greater breathing space and a physical reality that was not present before. Furthermore, with a pleasant correctness, this choral presence was now placed behind the orchestral team, for the benefit of greater fidelity of the sound event. Added to this was also the distinction between the various sections of the same orchestra, with the winds standing out between the strings and brass and with the intervention of the percussions, timpani among all, which presented a more real decay of the harmonics.

In light of this targeted listening, the idea I have of this brush, whose cost of 120 euros is negligible to say the least compared to its effectiveness, is precise. The benefit of its use fully falls into that category of products (few, but good) that respect what should be the inescapable law of the audiophile bible, i.e. that it must not take away or add anything, but only give back. This means that such an accessory is not used to restore an artificial sound, which must necessarily improve what the recording in question does not have originally, but only what it contains for better or for worse, i.e. the sound information contained between the grooves. It means the correctness of what is contained in the vinyl, with its merits and also its defects (and, until proven otherwise, the term “high fidelity”, often used inappropriately, means exactly this!).

One last thing, Alex Cereda strongly advises never to wet the brush, nor to immerse it in any liquid, in order to always keep the substances present in the cocktail of lacquers active, substances that the owner of Sublima considers eternal, in the sense that with over time they do not lose their undoubted qualities. Once used, simply place the brush in the bag it is sold in, and that’s it. Furthermore, precisely to guarantee the benefits that distinguish it, this brush is sold with the classic “satisfied or refunded” formula, although I firmly doubt that anyone who decides to purchase it will be disappointed.

For this reason, I’ll wait for someone to come and say the opposite.

Update: Intrigued by the remarkable potential of this brush, I didn’t limit myself to using it to pass it over the cantilever of the head and vinyl before listening to them, but I also wanted to experiment with it on other components of my audio system. At first, I limited myself to passing it over the chassis of the mechanics (digital player, preamplifier with relative power supply chassis, prephono, power amplifiers), always first carrying out a listening test and repeating this listening, using the same recordings, after having passed the brush over the aforementioned frames. Well, to my great surprise, I realized that the sound of all the recordings had gained, more or less, in transparency and detail, with the result of obtaining an improvement in the reconstruction of the sound space, therefore with a greater physical presence of the voices and instruments.

At that point, I wanted to go further, so I delicately passed the Sublima brush over the speaker transducers, focusing especially on the tweeters, as I thought that a benefit could arise from the high range, i.e. the one that is most affected for the worse when the sound pickup is not optimal, forcing the audio system to muddying the high notes and inevitably causing a principle of “saturation”, even when a Hi-End system is available. Evidently, I thought well, as also in this case the general improvement, precisely on the high range, was perceptible, with an increase in performance and with an undoubted cleanliness of the timbres, as well as a further improvement in the detail and reconstruction of the sound stage.

So, I immediately informed Alex Cereda, the owner of Sublima, who did nothing but confirm my listening impressions, since several customers who had already purchased the magical brush had already experimented in this way, passing the accessory in question both on the mechanics frames and on the transducers. Not only that, thanks to this positive feedback, Cereda is working to prepare a specific kit which can therefore be used specifically on the entire system. This is because, as he himself explained to me, the lacquers with which the brush is impregnated are the same ones that he uses in lutherie, so that they can work fully on the components of the audio system, thus bringing a further and targeted benefit. As soon as I have this kit, I will have the opportunity to experiment with it and update this article again.

Review by Andrea Bedetti