Is it worth purchasing the VPI 16.5?

A record washer is a must have if your gonna spin records. However I think the extra money for a 16.5 isn't worth it and is unecesary.

Buy a nitty gritty and turn them buy hand and save some bucks to buy more records

There clearly are variation among record cleaners in their effectiveness. You may be satisfied with less effective cleaning or you may not. In part this probably depends on the quality of your vinyl front end.

It is worth every penny, particularly if you use Record research record cleaning products with it.

Tbg: better source material is beneficial to any system. Whether or not one can afford to buy "the best" type of cleaning system is something completely different than being satisfied with what they have or might be able to purchase : ) Sean
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I feel it is a no-brainer that an analog enthusiast should have at the least the highly touted VPI HW16.5 if you are building a record collection. Once you being buying a lot more LPs you may want to have more convenience by getting the HW17F. But if you are here to stay the Clearaudio Matrix is a lifetime investment. You should see the innards and build quality! At the expense of a much higher cost