Audio Systems: Turntable question, dish soap, vinyl playback

Question
You have been a great help.True it makes sense to have good vinyl playback equipment and if I collect a sizable amount of records in the future I will consider a better turntable for now I'll either look into buying the gauge,they have them from the place I bought the cartridge or perhaps getting the service and or user manual for the turntable though I don't know if that will be of any help.All I can say is the records that have been cared for sound good the characteristic of the sound leans towards laid back compared to the average CD that sounds more dynamic and often.(depending on the recording)a bit bright.That is why out of curiosity I would still like to audition one of the Ortofon cartridges that cost about the same as what I paid for the Grado.And as far as washing with the mild dish soap my concern is ruining the label if I have to rinse the records off,How do I avoid that and what is the mildest dish soap?I have read from some posts about vinyl care that Dawn is perfered and of course people who stay away from the soap thing and use record cleaning fluid and the brush so I guess that is solely a matter of opinion.

Answer
I have every conceivable record cleaner including the $500 plus record vacs with fluid and all. I have always gotten better results with ordinary dish soap. As far as the label goes you can use drafting tape to protect it while you clean it. Drafting tape will not harm the label when you remove it. You can also be careful not to soak the label.

If you know someone with an Ortofon you can try that avenue. I have never been a fan of their sound. It's not musical enough for me. I am even referring to the expensive Ortofon cartridges. It's like Japanese equipment. No matter how expensive, more often then not it leave me cold. Designed by people whose ears are particular to a notion of what sounds right to them.