What Vinyl quality should I be using?

I DIDNT EVEN READ THIS THREAD. IT IS THE RECORDING ENGINEERS AND SO FORTH THAT MAKE IT IMPORTANT. If it is done rite (look to Madonna; Immaculate Collection) DONE RITE and it is standard vinyl. They should start firing like the automotive company's are.

Roger Busby

Come on, I'm not dumb enough not to have rinsed with distilled water. There is still residue left on those records, I hear and see it after each play.
Have you guys even tried a rcm with vacuum? The vacuum simply cleans off that remaining residue better than rinsing. Now for high pressure rinsing, I might go for that.

I could also make an analogy to the automatic car wash. Would you rather have your car dried with the vacuums or clean rags, I choose the vacuum. No matter how clean those rags are they pick up some of the remaining residue and drag that around. Again, I hear a quieter surface with vacuum cleaning.

05-31-08: Sns asked:
"Have you guys even tried a rcm with vacuum?"

Yes, long ago and far away. It was a VPI used under supervision of a used LP dealer.

IME, Disc Doctor is superior.

Dave

We will agree to disagree, others will have to judge for themselves.

While this takes the thread way off topic...

I believe the DD process is very good (albeit labor intensive) and I use it as my primary cleaning approach. However, afterwards, I vacuum the still-wet LP with a DIY attachment to my ShopVac. I have to admit, it is, IMHO, a significant improvement over the DD process alone (and less than $2 USD to make).

Quite frankly, I can't see spending the coin on an RCM given the effectiveness of this approach. It is not very elegant, mind you, but very effective. YMMV...

And to take this back to the original question of the thread..."standard vinyl", particularly used vinyl found in old bookstores, estate sales, and resale shops may be the most under-rated pleasure in the world (aside from new guitar strings and a good cup of coffee).

With a little effort, those forgotten treasures can look and sound like new (see earlier posts in this thread), and you can open yourself to a world of new music for very little money. Plus, again IMHO, the hunt for "standard vinyl" in these obscure locations is part of the fun...much more so than arguing over cleaning techniques.