I use both a vacuum RCM then throw the LP in the Degritter. Works great for me. One piece of feedback - I have had two Pro-ject vacuum RCM and both have died horrible screeching deaths. On the first, the vacuum motor became so loud and whined when running and after it was shut off that I could not use it anymore and threw it out. I found someone to complain to about it and bought a b-stock replacement at a reduced price. Now, after a couple hundred sides it is starting to do the same thing. When this one becomes so annoying that I can't stand it I will throw this one out and buy a used VPI RCM. Very disappointing. Check out reviews online and you'll hear the same issue.
And I've been seeing reports of the Humminguru Ultrasonic working for a few months and conking out as well. People seem to think turning a record on a lazy Susan, old Turntable or Squeaky Clean is some sort of enormous task and they have to have a RCM. It's easy and simple and elbow grease is as effective and in many cases more effective than a RCM. Something to ponder. When is you car cleaner? When you run it through an automated car wash or when you get out in the driveway with some buckets and sponges?
I use an old Nitty Gritty I bought off eBay many moons ago. It's a great machine for sure and parts are still available. At the time I bought it, research brought me to a company called KAB which offered a similar product called an EV-1. The difference was you supply the vacuum portion. So looking now, I see KAB is still out there and the EV-1 is still listed for $149. If it does the same job as the $1,700 Nitty Gritty...
Well, if you scroll down, you'll see less expensive models, and I actually bought mine used at a nice discount
Judging by the silence, I'm going to assume that his opinions were shared on a foundation of zero experience. I suspect that a factor in the skepticism towards PVA peeling is that it does not offer the same opportunity for arcane but frequent discussions in which druidic knowledge and prized possessions compete and confer status ;-)
I have 1,000s of records. An RCM is a must for me. And I had similar issues with my VPI RCM. The vacuum unit went bad. VPI makes replacement parts available for their RCMs. They wanted an arm and a leg for a new vacuum unit, so, I started checking around. a lot of the RCMs use generic off-the-shelf parts. Maybe they make the cabinets but their biggest job is assembling the RCMs. The vacuum unit had a manufacturer name and model number. I looked at the Grainger website and they had it listed. They only wanted a fraction of the price for the same unit VPI had for sale. So, I looked on eBay and found several brand new units for half of what Grainger wanted, so I bought one. It was perfect and works great! If you have some basic hand tools and the ability to use them, you can probably fix your RCM yourself. Next time you want to throw something away, give it to me. I'll pay the postage.
I know where you are coming from. One record shop that I used to buy used records from would clean the the records I bought using a Nitty Gritty RCM. When I got home and played them, there was so much surface noise that they were virtually unplayable. At the time, all I had was a DiscWasher brush and fluid. I had to re-clean the records multiple times to quite them down. Now cleaning records using a brush like this creates static electricity and I wish that I had a ZeroStat gun back then. So, when I would buy used records at this store later, I wouldn't let them clean the records on their RCM. They couldn't understand why. I'd take the records home and clean them with my brush, only one time, and they sounded great. The brush did leave stuff behind and the stylus would catch it. I would sometimes have to stop and clean the stylus in the middle of a record. Using my VPI RCM I have never again had the stylus really get dirty and interrupt playing. The brush which comes with a new cartridge and canned air keeps the stylus clean. Crackles often come from not rinsing the records with distilled water. Letting the records air-dry allows the water to dry up and leave residue, even with using distilled water. Then, as the record dries, it draws dust out of the air like a magnet. That is the advantage of having an RCM that has a vacuum.
For the amount of money folks spend on turntables & cartridges, a good RCM is a drop in the bucket of $$$ and makes sense to me. NittyGritty makes nice cheaper machines too. VPI, OkkiNokki- get something decent. Super clean & preserve that vinyl (even if purchased used) before 1st play. I'm not a vinyl guy anymore, but the below advice came from someone heavily into vinyl. Makes sense to me. BEFORE 1ST USE: 1. Power Clean vinyl before 1st use (this is a one time thing). 2. Seal 'preserve' the vinyl before 1st use (this is an every 200 or so use thing). The power clean supposedly removes 'mold release compound' that is left on vinyl after pressing. The sealing part hardens the vinyl and supposedly makes it last longer. This company sells both the cleaner and the sealer: Record Cleaners / Preservatives Archives Warning: If you google for 'mold release compound' you'll find opposing viewpoints on this.
I actually picked up one of these used. It hasn't arrived yet but it will be interesting to see how it compares to my usual semi-manual method.
