Lazy Susan w/ record mat on top. Last Record brush to agitate my home made record cleaning fluid. Nitty Gritty 1.0 to vacuum clean the record My home brew record cleaning fluid 90% Aquafina 10% Isopropanol Alcohol (99% pure) 1 drop of Tergitol NP6 per 8oz
Record Doctor V Record Cleaning Machine | Audio Advisor I have no idea what "a little extra money" is as far as an amount, but this is well worth it.
A couple of folks have recommended this---- The "little extra" is gonna depend on how much a new receiver costs. I'm currently diagnosing an issue and working backwards from there. And that's another thing I need to research, I never receiver shopped before.
I have tried it. Not too sure about the results but what I do know is that I clean records by the six or dozen and the adhesive process is tedious, messy and very time consuming and also takes up space. Not fun. The machines do a good job in good time and contain their mess. That in itself makes them a good investment.
I saw a Fremer endorsement on there. Sorry but that's deal breaker for me. I don't put much stock in his opinions.
I bit the bullet on a VPI 16.5. Pricey, but works extremely well. Many records in the collection now sound like new after cleaning on the 16.5 It is also extremely well built, has a good warranty.
There HAS to be more to this story. He is not wrong about everything. Unless there is some kind of other personal animosity ...
Wrong. Records are shinny, no fingerprints (try not to touch the surface also). Where do you play your records?
I like this thus far, but I've only had it a little over a month. It seems that ultrasonic cleaners, particularly when used with a pre-cleaning step with really dirty records, seem to do the best job. But most of them, including this one, haven't been on the market for nearly as long as vacuum style cleaners. VPI invented the velvet-tipped style record cleaning machine many decades ago and most of them are still working. Nitty Gritty has been around a long time, and Okki Nokki, Pro-Ject as well as the long-term turntable company, SOTA, have versions of a vacuum table, all relatively reasonably priced. The nice thing about the VPI designs is that not only are they robust, but they provide a surface upon which to scrub a record before going through the cleaning cycle. Even used ones are considered good buys, as VPI will happily help you bring the machine up to snuff. If you do go for something like the HumminGuru, make sure you have some way of pre-cleaning any grimy, used records you might encounter, such as brushes and fluids.
The highly-respected George Merrill says his research shows that vacuum-based methods injure the "lands" between the grooves. I can't prove or disprove that, but I've known George for many years and he's not one to make spurious claims. He makes a simple, effective, and affordable record cleaning unit. Not particularly elegant, but reviewers say it works well. You may want to check it out. Hydraulic LP Cleaning Apparatus MKII
Have you seen any of his live stream appearances with people in the You Tube Vinyl Community? He behaves like a total Richard, arrogant, condescending, rude. He has shown a complete inability to recognize that others have any knowledge. He is completely closeminded. And he's behaving that way as a guest within a community that he isn't a part of but has tried to show respect towards him and listen to what he's had to say. Other than that, he's great.
Wouldn't the "lands between the grooves" be a no-issue? All the sound comes from the groove walls so what are we talking about, some slight cosmetic mark?
"Wouldn't the "lands between the grooves" be a no-issue? All the sound comes from the groove walls so what are we talking about, some slight cosmetic mark?" Good question. I don't recall what he told me; however, he may have an explanation on his website. I'll look tomorrow (oops today) myself.
Very good questions. I think there is some evidence that residue is negligible. First, after cleaning thousands of sides this way, I have never seen any build-up on a stylus after playing ten miles of groove. Secondly, after peeling, the surface is strongly charged, suggesting that the adhesion is tenacious down at the molecular scale. Thirdly, the sheen on a record after cleaning in this way is shinier, with a strong rainbow effect, such as you see with brand new records. The silence at the intro groove after a PVA peel often produces a glance at the amplifier's power lamp to check that it is switched on. The tenacity of the peel in clinging to itself and the record surface when it is peeled also suggests that it is not inclined to leave much behind. Yes I am. I have examined PVA peels under a microscope and found that the line at the centre of the ridge made by the groove, i.e. the groove bottom, is extremely sharply defined, continuous and turns visibly in parallel to the edges of the groove where it meets the flats. All three lines are very clearly defined and sharp. Every now and then you see a tiny air bubble, but it is rare and you have to hunt to find one. Such air bubbles are not necessarily a sign that the glue has failed to reach the record surface as they may be contained inside the peel, but they are so rare that I doubt they affect a ten-thousandth of the surface area. Evidence of the removed dirt is everywhere in the peel when you look at it under a microscope. Every piece of grit and fluff is firmly fixed in the transparent glue. Unlike fluid cleaning methods, the peel has encapsulated the dirt as liquid, turned solid, and as a solid it pulls hard at the surface when it is peeled. For this reason I suspect it is better at removing dirt which is firmly attached to the surface than many fluid methods. Some lumps of grit can get wedged into the v of the groove. Encapsulation and solidification before peeling the solid mold seems like a method as effective as any brush, but without the potential risk of abrasion. Unlike a brush, the force is upwards, not downwards. If something is too firmly embedded to be peeled off, then the downwards pressure of a brush probably won't shift it either, and the next attack will come from a stylus. Your questions are very good, and my experience of using this technique for many years suggests that they all come back to the advantages of PVA peeling.
I often find that negative comments about the method draw on very limited experience, if any. How much experience do you have of using the PVA peel method?
I've been using a VPI RCM for years, which I got for a bargain price. I have a new to market ultrasonic RCM on order. I've wanted to try one. If I was going to buy a powered auto-rotating RCM, I would get one of the Pro-Ject models. I wouldn't waste my money on anything less. Some might suggest the Spin Clean and swear by it, but they've never had a real RCM before to compare. The Spin Clean is not really an RCM, you are the machine. Remember, you only get what you paid for.
Nope. And from the sounds of it I probably should not seek them out. However, I still recommend the Record Doctor...
I started cleaning with a basin cleaner, no rinse and no vacuum. Through reading, researching, trial and error I've evolved to a mainly manual method utilizing a vacuum. I've been making a effort to play grade all of my records. I can at least partially tell when/what method was used on a particular record based on the inner sleeve. Most of the records play very well regardless of the cleaning method but occasionally I'll come across one cleaned from the early days that doesn't measure up. I listened two Willie's Angel Eyes and Always On Your Mind and despite their being one owner (me) records that visually were NM they had some crackle spots in them. This could be simply a bad pressing. They are probably from one of the record clubs. But since they were early cleaning I put them in the cleaning pile and tried again using my current cleaning regiment. Upon replaying them there was still a touch of crackle in the lead in, but the 2nd cleaning seemed to eliminate about 70% of the previous issues. So my assumption is that even the most basic of cleaning is probably enough for many (what percentage I will not venture a guess) records. For the rest a thorough multistep process involving proven cleaning solutions, rinsing and vacuuming are needed. And even then there will be some we can assume are just poorly pressed or previously abused with groove damage.
