Vinyl Care & Dust Removal, How to make vinyl sound good?? Options

[ViPER1313]

After reading the thread found here [ http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index....t=7953&hl=vinyl ] I was blown away by the recording quality of the sandra.mpc sample. How do you get vinyl to sound so dust free and rich? All the vinyl that I have recorded has at least some dust crackling in the background, and some recordings sound extremely harsh (especially in the vocals - almost like clipping except there is no clipping going on.....) Do you use digital correction? Filtering? I use the following equipment -

Marantz TT1060 Turntable w/ unknown cartridge/needle (the cartridge/needle are replacements, less than 6 months old - I have no idea what brand / model they are, but they seem to be of decent quality.)

Marantz PM325 Receiver

SB-Live soundcard fed from phono -> receiver -> line-in (This is not the weak link I am concerned over - I know it has crappy quality recording, but I am worried about the record playback quality itself . I have also tried phono -> line-in directly and was not impressed with the quality at all.)

The cartridge seems to have good frequency response and be of decent quality, but I can not get rid of dust no matter what I try - I have a diskwasher and have tried a 1:5 alcohol/water solution, but the dust persists. Any tips?

[ViPER1313]

Thanks for the advice! I think I need to buy a carbon fiber brush. I am still worried over the harsh sound that my setup gets on certain albums. I don't know if its the turntable, or just the record itself. Here are some samples of stuff that I've done - I would like someone's opinion on the harsh.mpc sample. This has happened on more than one album that I have recorded. Thanks again!

What I consider to be a good recording - From a 1979 B-52s record with a "High Fidelity" label on the front.

Harsh sound, especially in the vocals - From a 1965 Bob Dylan album.

Dusty sound - From a 1975 Wings album.

The first two albums were purchased within the past year at a used record store, and I have no idea as to their history, although they seem to be in decent condition. The Wings album is my fathers's, and was played regularly through its life span on various turntables. Any thoughts would be appreciated.