Vinyl Accessories - Skip It or Buy It!

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.

I agree lewm. It can't remove grunge. However, if a record is not fingerprinted and kept in a rice paper sleeve other than when being played and has the dust removed each time, inside a record jacket (or sometimes 2) inside an outer plastic sleeve inside a sealed glass cabinet door, how does it get grungy? I am meticulous in handling and storing my records. The brush magnetically removes dust I guess because of the static charges that makes the dust stick to the fibers and it sweeps larger particles and hairs. I'm sure it doesn't remove deep dirt. I've lived with the risk of a sound difference for 40 years, and I don't see it changing. There is so much difference from record to record in SQ, that it is really hard to tell as you play different records if one would need cleaning beyond the dusting before every play.

I think I bought 2 EX records and was not comfortable with them one time and brought them to my brother in-law's (not a special trip) and I cleaned them. He has some expensive VPI machine I think. It vacuums and brushes and everything. It was more time consuming than I thought, and I am wondering how he keeps track of when he cleaned which records. He doesn't even have them situated perfectly vertically as I do. Another thing to keep track of and worry about if they always look shiny and clean....

They were still EX records though. That's when I said NM or Mint (which is really new but opened and never played I guess) only if not available new.

Obviously if you are an avid buyer (or seller) of used records a RCM is a must have.