best value - record cleaning machine

Audiofeil,

I'm thinking manual is the way to go.

For me, the less to break and still get the job done, the better.

Look at it this way, when you want your car cleaned right, do you go to a car wash or hand clean yourself?

No brainer.

Machines are damn convenient though.

But also a compromise.

I like the car wash idea. Put the records in dish racks in the back of a pickup and run em through the wash.Just dont use the wax.

IMO the brushes and fluid are more critical than the machine. My VPI 16.5 just spins the record and sucks the fluid off, pretty simple really. Its the fluid and brushes that really get into the grooves. FWIW, I'm using Walker Solution with very good results. It takes more time than most since there are 3 steps, but like anything else, it takes time to do a thorough job.

The best option depends a lot on the volume of cleaning that you expect to be doing and the type of records that you will be requiring. I agree with above that a KAB-EV1, VPI 16.5, and steam cleaning are great alternatives and "work". If you are buying a few mostly new LPs you can be happy with a manual based option. If you are going to be scouring the thrifts and yard sales and end up cleaning quite a few records then a vpi 16.5 combined with steam would be a very helpful combination. I found the KAB to be very effective but love the convenience of the 16.5.