Record Cleaning

After many, many years of "getting by" without a record cleaning machine, I finally purchased one and very quickly realized I'd unnecessarily put up with far too much background noise and too many ticks & pops. If you plan on buying used vinyl, this is particularly true. Rega seems to fetishize simplicity to a fault in this case. You can also get great results with other wet cleaning methods and/or steam cleaning, but dry brush cleaning is not the e-ticket ride to maximizing your vinyl listening experience.

Okay, Photon46 you raise a valid point. May I ask what you are using to clean your records?

Thanks,
Randy

I completely agree with Photon. I'm a huge Rega fan, but completely disagree with Roy Gandy.

I waited a while before I bought a record cleaning machine. Had I known then what I know now, I'd have bought it a long tome ago.

I bought a KAB USA EV-1. All the machines reportedly clean to the same degree. The differences are convenience features. The EV-1 is basically a Nitty Gritty without an internal vaccum.

With the money you save over Nitty Gritty or VPI, get a steam cleaner. I use an old Technics TT to blast the LP with some steam, scrub with some cleaner, then vaccum with the EV-1.

Everything sounds so much better now. It's like I bought a new TT and cartridge. If you're not vaccuming the stuff off, it's not coming off in my experience.

JR

And now for something completely different...Nagaoka Rolling Cleaner. been using the same one for about 30 years. It works. Also have a Hunt, Nag's much more effective.

Also use a VPI 16.5. Had KAB, but pulling the vacuum down leaves a trailing edge of fluid. Downfall is on VPI when someone closes the lid with the tube in place it breaks the wand. Over and over at $30 a crack. YMMV.

JMO.