overwhelmed by record rituals

I would experiment with some of the cheaper solutions before buying anything expensive. Last is good. I have some stuff called Finyl that seems to work OK. Try a few different brands and see if they can do the job. If they don't work out, then look into getting a machine.

Mcanaday,

Those ticks and pops are specks of dirt/dust that are in the air and landing on your record. Having a clean tip is good for the cartridge and also the record but it will do nothing for those ticks and pops. Buy yourself an ANTI-STATIC CARBON FIBRE RECORD BRUSH and use it before every play. I've seen good ones on Ebay for less than $15. If you are committed to stay with vynal, then by all means, get a record cleaning machine. They all clean the same. You will pay for add features. I have the VPI 16.5. I would consider it the best investment I have ever made related to vynal. Not the fact that it is a VPI but the fact that it is a Record Cleaning Machine. The more you pay for a machine, the easier the cleaning of the record becomes. But paying more will not, I repeat, not get your records cleaner.
If you do buy a machine, get back to us. Many of us have home made concoctions to use as cleaning fluids. No need to buy those expensive products provided by various manufacturers to clean those precious garage finds!
Regards,

Get a Nitty Gritty cleaner for a couple hundred bucks. It's manual, but one gets used to such matters. I use AIVS 3 step fluids with excellent results. Follow up with a Zerostat static removal gun. Silence.

If you really get the bug and start buying used records at garage sales and thrift stores, then you will need a record cleaning machine for sure. I'd recommend the VPI 16.5. Make sure the suction tube is at the proper height. To low and the tube will crack. Get it just right and the tube will last for years. Also, don't be gentle with the process. Scrub the crapolla out of the record with the VPI brush that's included with the machine.

Another tip ... before playing any record at the beginning of your listening session, dust off the turntable platter. It makes no sense to put a new or clean record on a dusty platter and then get the subsequent tics and pops when you play the flip side of the record.

Buy some of those micro fiber cloths. They are great for dusting everything, including records. Costco sells them in bulk for cheap.

Another tip ... Don't limit yourself to expensive audiophile reissues. You'd be amazed at how great some of those thrift store gems can sound. Yes, you'll have to go through a lot of "frogs" in order to find the "Prince," but that's part of the fun. For the price of one audiophile reissue, you can walk out of a thrift store with 20 to 50 records.

Another tip ... When buying used records, always ask the seller if you can take them outside to look at them in the sunlight. Records can look perfectly fine indoors under fluorescent lights ... but EVERY flaw shows up in the sun.

Another tip ... When looking through the records in a thrift store, always ask if they had a new shipment that hasn't been put out yet. If they say ... "yes, we have some in the back," ask them if you can have a look at them too. That little trick will get you some really sought after records before they get picked through.

VPI 16 and then 16.5 got me through over 25 years at this hobby. I moved to ultra-sonic about 3 months ago and wish I'd just stayed with an RMC of some sort. Ultra-sonic may be better but what a pain!

Stick with a VPI 16.5. Simple, rugged, plenty of support.
I'm sure there are Clearaudio fans out there...let me tell you about my three months with one of their machines...not so happy.