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June 24, 2008 - 4:43pm
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Vinyl questions
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Do you find that the good-sounding LPs are clean and the bad-sounding LPs are dirty? Or are you talking about differences in sound quality between equally well-cared for albums?
I've been very satisfied with my VPI record-cleaning machine. Now that I have it, I can't imagine being without it. If, however, you don't want to invest it one right away, you might try some other dry cleaning tools like one of the many carbon fiber or velvet pad brushes, or something like the Milty Pixall. These will remove lots of dust and grime, but will not be as effective as a good vacuum machine.
Even if you upgrade to a $1000 player, you may still want to invest in a vacuum cleaning machine, especially if you'll be playing used or otherwise neglected LPs.
They seem equally clean. I do buy some used but am rather picky - but I guess it's hard to really know. For example, my Pink Floyd LP's sound very good, but Hendrix and Zeppelin sound bad. I bought a 180g Joni Mitchell from SoundStageDirect and her voice sounds brittle (same CD sounds fine) - and that was new.
It just seems like a total crap shoot when I buy vinyl - regardless of new/used.
yes, some records sound great and others not so. Part of it depends on the recording of course. Vacuum cleaning does make an enormous difference and I think it's an essential tool. There are some less expensive ones from Nitty Gritty. Also, I just finished reviewing a water based one from George Merrill called the G.E.M Dandy that costs $150. It's tricky and can be messy until you figure it out, but it does work (you need a deep kitchen sink with a standard faucet (not the pull out kind) or a slop sink and you have to be really careful or you can get water seeping into the label protector and then the label can get wet so I wouldn't use it on collectible records, but for everyday records it is certainly better than nothing and some people actually prefer it to the vacuum machines (not me). The review will appear in a future issue.. I'd get a cleaning machine first so your records are well cleaned because in my experience, dirt is what wears out records, not playing them, even on a modest 'table like the MMF....then you can consider a 'table upgrade to one of the better Music Halls or a Rega. However, you can also put a better cartridge on the MMF--like one of the better Ortofons or an upgraded Grado and get better sound without changing anything else...
-MF