Vinyl Accessories - Skip It or Buy It!

My opinion for record cleaning machines is that they are useful if you buy a lot of used dirty records. I try to keep mine pristine and only use a carbon fiber brush to remove dust. Most of my records are new, and if I get a used one it is NM or forget it. You can't clean scratches.

I actually was thinking about getting one and did a test of a 40 year old record that was not cleaned (other than the brush) and after cleaning it on a VPI record cleaning machine, I heard no difference. Tried it on a 2nd album, same result.

A great device that doesn't affect the sound (unless it is mounted on the plinth), is a Tru Lift from the same Integrity hifi people up in Canada. It simply lifts the arm at the end of a record so you don't have to worry about excess cartridge wear if you can't get right to the table when the record is done playing. You don't hear much about these, but I wish I had one 20 years ago when I realized how much better manual tables were than semi or fully automatic ones.

The price starts around $200 and varies by the table you are using it on because the height of the device varies that effects the amount of stainless steel they use. They're not cheap, but they are built very solid. Only sold through dealers, but I've spoken to them when I had a question setting it up and subsequently when it tilted over and didn't work because I needed to add damping fluid. They even had a video for how to do that! Great little company.

If you happen to have a Rega P8 or P10, these things are unbelievably great because they don't touch the plinth at all. They sit on the same platform that the table sits on and come through the brace that connects the arm to the platter. An absolute no brainer.

They also have an interesting tonearm that is totally separate from the plinth. It's a little out of my price range, but at $4K, it's worth a look if you're considering over $5-$6K for a rig.They claim it outperforms anything out there and makes reasonable priced cartridges sound fantastic. One again only through dealers who will help set it up.

Soko, do you really think your N=2 experiment with the vpi RCM proves anything at all?
even mint condition used LPs can have a lot of dirt and dust on them, which can be efficiently removed by a good RCM. If I ever doubt that fact, all I need to do is look at the effluent from my VPIHW 17 RCM. It’s filthy.

Agree with @lewm ...even the new LP’s have dust particles. Most of the LP’s are shipped in cheap paper sleeves. Remember, Vinyl manufacturing plants are nowhere near the standards of CDC Labs :-)

I have gotten into the ritual of cleaning new LP’s on my Pro-Ject - VC-S2 ALU RCM and then inserting them into MoFi static free sleeves.

My fiber brush removes dust. I clean that off every time before I play a record. I clean the record mat when any dust is visible. I am sure that there are records dirty enough that the oil from fingerprints affects the sound. Mine aren't. Most audiophile records I get come in nicer, non paper sleeves (although I make sure they are at least rice paper quality or I put a Mofi sleeve on them).You don't need a record cleaning machine to remove dust. Fiber brush removes it magnetically and physically.

I used to use a discwasher (way back in the 80's) system and was told by several people not to put any liquid on the brush (that would then be moved to the record). Like I said, in my limited test (it may have been 3 records), I couldn't hear any difference. I am not saying they couldn't be sparkly cleaner, just that I couldn't hear a difference. Maybe I'm not as sensitive or maybe I had negative bias towards it, but even the salesman said he couldn't hear any improvement. The people that have the cleaners don't seem to use them that much because most of their records look spotless. They use them when they buy used ones in EX and below condition.

I think cleaning new records is excessive. Not harmful, but unnecessary.

Try testing it some time. Just my $.02.

 

Soko, Fiber brush cannot hope to remove grunge imbedded in the grooves.  Even a pristine-looking LP will yield "dirt" when properly cleaned.  Your brush is unlikely to get below the lands, and if it does, only minimally. And please describe how a fiber brush removes dirt "magnetically".  That's a new one on me. This is coming from someone who is not at all fanatical about LP cleaning, but it's just a fact of vinyl life.  Yes, in some cases, you won't hear much difference between unwashed and post-wash.  In other cases, you definitely will.