Vinyl Accessories - Skip It or Buy It!

Update: Pro-Ject - VC-S2 cleaning machine is here and after cleaning 15 records, I am giving this machine a very enthusiastic thumbs up. The supplied ‘Wash It’ concentrated fluid leaves no residue and quick to dry. In less than 90 seconds you have a clean record to play.

The cleaning process is not as simple as dropping the record into the slot as some of the UC machines with 4 figures price tag but I found the process with VC-S2 pretty straightforward. It’s definitely a far cry from spin-clean record washer (also brought in for comparison).

To be completely honest, I kinda enjoyed the process with VC-S2. You start off by clamping the record between the two plates, start the motor running and pour a little bit of diluted cleaning fluid onto the grooves, spreading it evenly with supplied goat hair brush before turning the vacuum arm into place, switching on the vacuum suction to suck up the dirty cleaning fluid. The vacuum leaves the record completely dry, while the waterproof padding underneath the clamp ensures that the record label is protected throughout the process. The bottom clamp size is exactly the same size of the record label so you’re not transferring the dirt onto side A when you flip the record to clean side B.

It’s currently on sale for $649 and free shipping, in case anyone interested.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B084KJQ6QT/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Thank you everyone for your suggestions.

Why not just get a simple record DR RCM....it essentially does the exact same thing all the other more expensive ones do. It simply vacuums out of the grooves your choice of record cleaning fluid, nothing more nothing less. Vacuuming is vacuuming. Yea, u will have to turn record manually, but is that really that big a deal? Short of going the ultrasonic route, I’d say this Is the best option that leaves money on the table to acquire more records. Just to add, the velvet lips are there to create a seal for the vacuum, the real deep cleaning occurrs during the spreading of the cleaner with maybe a high quality goat hair record brush. 

^^^^Just watch the video, thanks but no. This is no different than spin-clean which cost $79.99. This is a classic example of you get what you pay for :-) 

For all VPI record cleaner owners, the 2" clamping knob is such a great item. Luxurious to use and makes the process seem less of a hassle. 

mijostyn - I've always been told to keep the dustcover off while playing albums. As a matter of fact, the newer Rega P8 and P10 models can't play with the covers on. I noticed on my old P5, it sounded better with the dust cover removed while playing records.

latik - As far as the mat question, I had a static problem with the standard Rega felt mat, was told the TEAC washi mat ($30) would solve the problem (supposedly the paper with the very slight cushion below it is optimal sounding) but it didn't work as the mat kept coming up with the record just like the Rega mat. The dealer who sold me it swears by it on 3 tables he uses, but I guess he doesn't have a static problem. And he wouldn't take it back, which is BS.

Saw some chatter about Herbie's Audio Lab Way Excellent II mat here on the Gon. It is a silicon layer on top of some other layer. It completely solved my problem for $60 and you can talk to Herbie himself down in Texas. I honestly don't know if it sounds better than the Rega mat or the Washi, but it solved my problem.

Like a lot of other tweaks you hear about, sometimes I think it is all in your head. You can spend as much as $650 for a mat (maybe more), which I guess is OK if you have a $10K+ rig, but I can't beleive any sound improvement, if real, is worth it. Others are $100 or more that I think would work as well. Funk Firm is 5 mm for the good mat, which is too thick for a Rega table without spacers.