Do I need a record cleaning machine

I use an old Keith Monks Record Cleaner. Easy, cheap, effective and does the trick. Bit noisy though. I agree with the others - a wet cleaner is pretty essential if you have any sized record collection.

Charlie

Yes. Buy an RCM and clean your new records.

I lived without one for about 20 years and my mint, new, or very clean vinyl sounded great. The reason I bought my VPI was because I buy so much used vinyl now (I find great deals in abundance).

So, now that I have the machine, I use it on EVERYTHING. Let me tell you, I should have done it years ago. It is not just pops and clicks disappearing, it is more dynamic and resolving.

Buy it. You wont regret it. And if not, sewll it on Agon!

I don't clean brand new vinyl, but after a record has been played once, then yes, I will clean it before each subsequent playing. It makes a HUGE difference. As someone else mentioned earlier, the AIVS fluids are excellent. You also don't have to pay a ton of money for a really good machine. If you don't mind turning it by hand, you can buy the Nitty Gritty Record Doctor 3 from Audio Advisor - very inexpensive. It does a great job. You will not be sorry.

You don't necessarily need a cleaning machine, but I do think you do need to clean your records. There is tremendous concensus that clean records sound better than non-cleaned ones, even new pressings.

I built a simple RCM with a thrift-shop Ice Cream Maker, a hockey puck, a cheap wet/dry vac, and some commercial RCM parts. EXTREMELY EFFECTIVE with only about $50 invested.

Many folks stand by their manual cleaning routines and I respect that, but it wasn't for me. After a period of various manual cleaning methods, I went the wet wash and vacuum dry route and am glad I did.

Hope this helps! Don